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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: row · stock · fork · kick · cold · file · craft · kid

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. craft — boats
  5. row — to paddle
  6. file — a tool
  7. cold — not warm
  8. kid — child
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. cold — an illness
  11. kid — to tease
  12. kick — in football
  13. stock — shares
  14. fork — in a road
  15. row — a line
  16. craft — a skill
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. file — a document
  20. stock — goods
  21. file — a line of people
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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