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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. chest — of your body
  3. march — the month
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. march — the month
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. fork — in a road
  9. chest — a box
  10. game — a match
  11. chest — of your body
  12. capital — a city
  13. capital — money
  14. track — to keep track
  15. march — music
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. track — a song
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. track — a path
  22. game — wild animals
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. pitch — completely

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