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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 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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. race — a contest
  3. clip — for paper
  4. fork — in a road
  5. key — the most important part
  6. suit — in cards
  7. clip — a video
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. last — final
  10. suit — clothes
  11. key — for a lock
  12. clip — to cut
  13. race — humankind
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. last — finally
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — from crying
  18. key — in music
  19. last — to go on
  20. kick — in football
  21. tear — to rip
  22. race — the arms race
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. suit — to fit

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