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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 · game · snap · cold · saw · deal · rest · bore

  1. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. saw — the tool
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. snap — to click
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. rest — a break
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. cold — an illness
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. bore — to tire
  14. game — a match
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. rest — what's left
  19. rest — what's left
  20. game — wild animals
  21. deal — to handle
  22. saw — the tool
  23. fork — in a road
  24. cold — not warm

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