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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: mug · file · hand · rest · squash · fork · row · wake

  1. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. mug — a cup
  3. hand — in cards
  4. squash — the sport
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. mug — a face
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. wake — a trail
  9. hand — help
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. rest — a break
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. rest — what's left
  14. row — to paddle
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. file — a tool
  18. fork — in a road
  19. row — a line
  20. rest — what's left
  21. file — a line of people
  22. file — a document
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. squash — to crush

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