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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 120 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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. drill — army training
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. mine — for digging
  6. file — a document
  7. drill — a practice
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. capital — a city
  13. file — a line of people
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — money
  16. safe — a strongbox
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. rock — music
  19. rock — a stone
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. fork — in a road
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. file — a tool
  24. drill — the tool

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