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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. club — a group
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. stock — goods
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. stock — shares
  7. prune — to trim
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. file — a tool
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. club — for golf
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. shower — rain
  14. capital — money
  15. fork — in a road
  16. club — for dancing
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. prune — to trim
  19. capital — a city
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. shower — to wash
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a line of people

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