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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: rule · row · firm · cold · fork · hand · foot · dip

  1. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. cold — an illness
  4. rule — a law
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. row — to paddle
  8. row — a line
  9. foot — a measure
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. firm — decided
  12. firm — steady
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. cold — not warm
  15. fork — in a road
  16. dip — to sink
  17. hand — help
  18. hand — in cards
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. rule — government
  22. firm — a company
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. cold — the Cold War

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