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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 · pitcher · craft · stick · fall · cold · rule · row

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. fall — to drop
  5. craft — boats
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. row — a line
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. row — to paddle
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — not warm
  15. rule — government
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. rule — a law
  18. fall — the season
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. craft — a skill
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. fork — in a road
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. fork — to eat with

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