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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 usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. drill — the tool
  3. last — to go on
  4. drill — a practice
  5. sharp — clever
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. wind — moving air
  8. last — final
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. wind — moving air
  11. fork — in a road
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. last — finally
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — money
  19. date — the fruit
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. drill — army training
  24. stand — to bear

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