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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 · rest · face · deal · pop · fork · spring · object

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. kid — to tease
  4. pop — music
  5. face — to point toward
  6. deal — to handle
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. face — to confront
  9. object — to protest
  10. fork — in a road
  11. spring — of water
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. spring — the season
  14. face — part of the head
  15. spring — a coil
  16. rest — a break
  17. object — a thing
  18. object — an aim
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. pop — soda
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. rest — what's left
  23. rest — what's left
  24. kid — child

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