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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chest · fork · rock · lean · safe · spring · pound · cold

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. spring — a coil
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. cold — an illness
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. pound — a weight
  9. spring — of water
  10. rock — a stone
  11. rock — music
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. chest — a box
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. fork — in a road
  18. chest — of your body
  19. spring — the season
  20. lean — thin
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. lean — to bend
  24. chest — of your body

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com