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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. capital — money
  4. cell — in biology
  5. deal — to handle
  6. cell — a phone
  7. capital — a city
  8. tube — a container
  9. cap — of ice
  10. cap — a lid
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. fork — in a road
  13. chest — a box
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. tube — the underground
  17. chest — of your body
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. cap — a hat
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. chest — of your body
  22. game — wild animals
  23. game — a match
  24. deal — an agreement

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