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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 116 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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. club — a group
  5. club — for golf
  6. mine — for digging
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. fork — in a road
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. club — for dancing
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. clip — for paper
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. staff — a stick
  16. staff — employees
  17. capital — a city
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — to cut
  22. sharp — clever
  23. staff — employees
  24. capital — money

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