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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. chest — a box
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. bat — the animal
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. vault — a safe
  12. club — for golf
  13. fork — in a road
  14. capital — money
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. capital — a city
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. club — a group
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. club — for dancing
  24. chest — of your 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