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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: kid · race · fork · pop · object · shower · mate · stick

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. kid — to tease
  3. pop — soda
  4. object — a thing
  5. mate — a partner
  6. race — the arms race
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. mate — a friend
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. kid — child
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. object — to protest
  16. race — a contest
  17. shower — rain
  18. object — an aim
  19. race — humankind
  20. pop — to visit
  21. shower — to wash
  22. mate — to breed
  23. pop — music
  24. fork — in a road

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