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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. tube — a container
  4. capital — a city
  5. degree — from a university
  6. march — the month
  7. capital — money
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. tube — the underground
  10. vault — a safe
  11. march — music
  12. fork — in a road
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. degree — temperature
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. march — the month
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. degree — an amount
  20. rush — hurry
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. tube — in a tire

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