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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 120 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 · squash · kick · cold · hand · swing · suit · bat

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. squash — to crush
  3. hand — help
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. fork — in a road
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. suit — in cards
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. suit — to fit
  13. bat — the animal
  14. cold — an illness
  15. hand — in cards
  16. cold — not warm
  17. swing — music
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. swing — to play on
  20. swing — in golf
  21. squash — the sport
  22. kick — in football
  23. suit — clothes
  24. fork — a garden tool

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