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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. capital — a city
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. spring — the season
  5. ground — the earth
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. capital — money
  9. race — the arms race
  10. stock — shares
  11. race — a contest
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. fork — in a road
  14. ground — a position
  15. branch — a division
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. ground — crushed
  18. race — humankind
  19. spring — a coil
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. stock — goods
  22. spring — of water
  23. vault — a safe
  24. capital — a big letter

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