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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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: hand · fork · swing · stick · press · game · net · squash

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. game — wild animals
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. swing — in golf
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. squash — to crush
  7. squash — the sport
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. swing — to play on
  10. press — to push
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. net — for catching
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. swing — music
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. fork — in a road
  17. hand — help
  18. hand — in cards
  19. net — after costs
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. press — a publisher
  22. press — newspapers
  23. game — a match
  24. net — in sport

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