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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: swing · root · cold · straw · bore · mine · fork · ground

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. fork — in a road
  6. ground — a position
  7. bore — to tire
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. swing — to play on
  10. root — the cause
  11. root — of a plant
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. swing — in golf
  14. bore — to drill
  15. swing — music
  16. mine — for digging
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. ground — the earth
  19. root — of a word
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. ground — crushed
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. mine — belonging to me

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