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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. content — the amount
  5. fork — in a road
  6. club — a group
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. cold — an illness
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. club — for dancing
  12. game — wild animals
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. pit — a hole
  15. game — a match
  16. content — happy
  17. club — for golf
  18. cold — not warm
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. pit — in a race
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. last — to go on
  23. last — final
  24. last — finally

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