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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: spring · stock · coach · stick · bat · fork · straw · kid

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. fork — in a road
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. spring — the season
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. kid — child
  12. spring — a coil
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. stock — shares
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. spring — of water
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. kid — to tease
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. stock — goods
  23. bat — the animal
  24. straw — dry grass

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