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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 124 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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. pitch — completely
  3. spring — a coil
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. capital — a city
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. spring — the season
  12. last — finally
  13. capital — money
  14. last — to go on
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. last — final
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — for digging
  22. fork — in a road
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. spring — of water

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