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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. chest — of your body
  3. key — for a lock
  4. ground — a position
  5. field — for sport
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. court — of law
  8. field — farmland
  9. rule — a law
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. field — a subject
  12. rule — government
  13. court — of a king
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. chest — a box
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. ground — the earth
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. court — for sport
  20. chest — of your body
  21. key — the most important part
  22. ground — crushed
  23. key — in music
  24. fork — in a road

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