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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: kid · hand · row · fork · squash · mate · present · cell

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. mate — a friend
  4. row — a line
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. kid — to tease
  7. present — a gift
  8. present — the time now
  9. squash — to crush
  10. hand — in cards
  11. fork — in a road
  12. present — there
  13. mate — to breed
  14. row — to paddle
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. cell — in biology
  17. kid — child
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. cell — a phone
  20. squash — the sport
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. mate — a partner
  23. hand — help
  24. row — a quarrel

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