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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 · patient · chest · mate · land · foot · straw · shower

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. mate — to breed
  3. chest — of your body
  4. fork — in a road
  5. shower — to wash
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. foot — a measure
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. mate — a partner
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. mate — a friend
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. chest — a box
  15. land — to come down
  16. chest — of your body
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. land — a country
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. shower — rain
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. land — ground
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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