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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: chair · lash · fork · racket · band · key · mine · cold

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. key — the most important part
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. fork — in a road
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. cold — not warm
  9. key — in music
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. chair — a leader
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. key — for a lock
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. band — a music group
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. cold — an illness
  23. band — a ring
  24. lash — an eyelash

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