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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: fork · firm · cold · tube · kid · arm · bat · bear

  1. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. cold — an illness
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. kid — child
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. tube — the underground
  7. kid — to tease
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. bear — the animal
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. cold — not warm
  13. tube — a container
  14. bat — the animal
  15. firm — steady
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. firm — a company
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. fork — in a road
  23. bear — the animal
  24. arm — part of the body

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