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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. field — a subject
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. swing — to play on
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. fork — in a road
  8. sharp — clever
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. swing — in golf
  12. field — farmland
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. race — humankind
  15. bound — obliged
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. race — the arms race
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. bound — tied together
  21. bound — certain
  22. field — for sport
  23. swing — music
  24. race — a contest

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