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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. squash — to crush
  5. field — farmland
  6. fork — in a road
  7. field — a subject
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. capital — money
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. wake — a trail
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. squash — the sport
  16. wind — moving air
  17. capital — a city
  18. field — for sport

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