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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: cold · squash · fork · kid · clip · hand · lash · bound

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. hand — in cards
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. squash — to crush
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. fork — in a road
  9. cold — not warm
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. bound — obliged
  12. clip — a video
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bound — tied together
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. cold — an illness
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. clip — to cut
  19. hand — help
  20. squash — the sport
  21. clip — for paper
  22. kid — child
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. hand — part of the 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