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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. ground — a position
  4. swing — to play on
  5. fork — in a road
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. can — to be able to
  8. capital — money
  9. ground — crushed
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. can — a tin
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. can — a tin
  14. ground — the earth
  15. capital — a city
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. rule — government
  19. bat — the animal
  20. swing — in golf
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. swing — music
  24. rule — a law

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