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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 120 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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. last — final
  4. field — a subject
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. field — for sport
  8. last — to go on
  9. rock — music
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. cold — not warm
  12. wound — an injury
  13. field — farmland
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. cold — an illness
  18. wound — an injury
  19. last — finally
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. rock — a stone
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. fork — in a road

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