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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. fork — in a road
  3. spell — magic
  4. capital — money
  5. spell — a short time
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. spell — letters
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. ground — the earth
  10. race — the arms race
  11. race — a contest
  12. cold — not warm
  13. ground — crushed
  14. race — humankind
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. capital — a city
  17. ground — a position
  18. rule — a law
  19. key — for a lock
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. key — the most important part
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. rule — government
  24. key — in music

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