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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 116 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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. cell — a phone
  3. drill — army training
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bat — the animal
  6. drill — the tool
  7. capital — money
  8. cell — in biology
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. stock — shares
  12. stock — goods
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. fork — in a road
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. drill — a practice
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. capital — a city
  24. saw — the tool

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