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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: dip · chair · wound · kid · fork · track · land · fall

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. land — a country
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. track — a song
  6. land — to come down
  7. track — a path
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. land — ground
  10. fall — to drop
  11. kid — to tease
  12. fork — in a road
  13. kid — child
  14. fall — to drop
  15. wound — an injury
  16. track — to keep track
  17. fall — the season
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. chair — a leader
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. dip — to sink
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. wound — an injury

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