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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. bat — the animal
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. wind — moving air
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. key — for a lock
  13. capital — money
  14. wind — moving air
  15. key — in music
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. scale — in music
  19. capital — a city
  20. fork — in a road
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. scale — size or range
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. key — the most important part

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