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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. press — a publisher
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. press — to push
  5. last — final
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. court — of a king
  9. capital — a city
  10. court — for sport
  11. last — to go on
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. branch — a division
  14. pit — in a race
  15. sharp — clever
  16. capital — money
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. press — newspapers
  19. court — of law
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. fork — in a road
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. pit — a hole
  24. sharp — exactly

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