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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: pop · rash · cell · straw · chest · mine · fork · kick

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. chest — of your body
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. pop — to visit
  7. rash — a series
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. cell — a phone
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. mine — for digging
  13. chest — of your body
  14. rash — hasty
  15. chest — a box
  16. kick — in football
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. fork — in a road
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. pop — music
  23. pop — soda
  24. straw — a straw man

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