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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 came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — in a road
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. key — the most important part
  4. key — for a lock
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. tube — a container
  11. capital — money
  12. wound — an injury
  13. branch — a division
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. tube — the underground
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. shower — to wash
  23. wound — an injury
  24. key — in music

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