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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 116 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: ruler · game · wake · fork · march · kid · deal · row

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. march — music
  3. march — the month
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. game — a match
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. march — the month
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. row — to paddle
  16. game — wild animals
  17. kid — child
  18. kid — to tease
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. wake — a trail
  21. deal — to handle
  22. row — a line
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. fork — in a road

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