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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. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. root — the cause
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. spring — a coil
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. capital — money
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. spring — of water
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. wind — moving air
  12. vault — a safe
  13. capital — a city
  14. root — of a plant
  15. root — of a word
  16. track — a path
  17. wind — moving air
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. track — a song
  20. spring — the season
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. track — to keep track
  23. fork — in a road
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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