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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: nail · file · bat · cold · straw · jam · chip · fork

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bat — the animal
  3. fork — in a road
  4. file — a line of people
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. cold — not warm
  9. chip — for betting
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. cold — an illness
  17. file — a document
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. chip — to eat
  21. file — a tool
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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