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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. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  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 — in a road
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. race — a contest
  4. file — a tool
  5. race — the arms race
  6. pit — in a race
  7. file — a line of people
  8. cold — not warm
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. file — a document
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — an illness
  13. race — humankind
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. wake — a trail
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. capital — a city
  21. capital — money
  22. pit — a hole
  23. racket — for tennis
  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