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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: club · pit · plane · kid · stick · fork · cold · present

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. cold — an illness
  4. plane — a tool
  5. pit — in a race
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. club — a group
  9. kid — child
  10. pit — a hole
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. club — for golf
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. kid — to tease
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. present — a gift
  18. cold — not warm
  19. club — for dancing
  20. fork — in a road
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. present — the time now

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