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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. ground — a position
  3. fork — in a road
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. vault — a safe
  6. field — for sport
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. mug — to rob
  9. mug — a cup
  10. field — farmland
  11. mug — a face
  12. tube — the underground
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. ground — the earth
  15. field — a subject
  16. cold — not warm
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. ground — crushed
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. tube — a container
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. cold — an illness

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