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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  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 — a garden tool
  2. vault — a safe
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. track — a song
  6. capital — money
  7. wind — moving air
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. rash — a series
  11. track — a path
  12. rash — hasty
  13. hand — help
  14. track — to keep track
  15. firm — a company
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. firm — decided
  18. capital — a city
  19. hand — in cards
  20. wind — moving air
  21. firm — steady
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. fork — in a road
  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