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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: fork · cue · cold · suit · chest · tear · kick · bark

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. cold — not warm
  3. suit — clothes
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. bark — to shout
  10. tear — from crying
  11. kick — in football
  12. cue — a hint
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. fork — in a road
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. cold — an illness
  19. suit — in cards
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. cue — for pool
  22. tear — to rip
  23. suit — to fit
  24. cue — a signal

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