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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: land · ground · chest · lash · fork · deal · straw · stem

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  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. deal — a big deal
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. ground — the earth
  4. chest — a box
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. chest — of your body
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. land — to come down
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. ground — crushed
  11. land — ground
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. stem — to come from
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. ground — a position
  18. fork — in a road
  19. chest — of your body
  20. land — a country
  21. deal — to handle
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. straw — dry grass
  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