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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: foot · band · fork · chest · dip · straw · tear · spell

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. foot — a measure
  4. tear — from crying
  5. band — a ring
  6. tear — from crying
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. tear — to rip
  10. band — a music group
  11. chest — of your body
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. spell — magic
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — a box
  17. fork — in a road
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. spell — a short time
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. dip — to sink
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. spell — letters

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