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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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Word bank
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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: lash · fork · foot · rock · plane · cold · straw · pop

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. pop — to visit
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. pop — soda
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. plane — a tool
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. pop — music
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. cold — an illness
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. cold — not warm
  19. fork — in a road
  20. rock — a stone
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. foot — a measure
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. cold — the Cold War

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