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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. pit — a hole
  6. hand — in cards
  7. wind — moving air
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. fork — in a road
  10. swing — music
  11. capital — a city
  12. pit — in a race
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. drill — the tool
  15. dip — to sink
  16. drill — army training
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. drill — a practice
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. hand — help
  21. capital — money
  22. swing — in golf
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. hand — part of the body

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