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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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Word bank
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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: bat · hand · rule · kid · spell · squash · fork · track

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. fork — in a road
  3. kid — to tease
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. squash — to crush
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. spell — a short time
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. rule — government
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. hand — in cards
  12. bat — the animal
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. squash — the sport
  15. track — a path
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. track — a song
  18. track — to keep track
  19. spell — letters
  20. rule — a law
  21. kid — child
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. spell — magic
  24. hand — help

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