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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 120 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: safe · hand · row · mate · bat · cold · fork · chip

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. Is it ________________ for us to be here?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. fork — in a road
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. chip — for betting
  5. mate — a friend
  6. row — to paddle
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. mate — to breed
  10. chip — to eat
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. row — a line
  13. bat — the animal
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. cold — an illness
  16. hand — help
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. mate — a partner
  24. safe — out of danger

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