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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. wind — moving air
  3. plane — a tool
  4. capital — money
  5. ball — a dance
  6. stock — shares
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. root — of a word
  9. capital — a city
  10. ball — a great time
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. wind — moving air
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. root — of a plant
  15. stock — goods
  16. kid — child
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. fork — in a road
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. kid — to tease
  22. root — the cause
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. stock — a soup base

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