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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. file — a tool
  3. file — a document
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. stand — to bear
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. fork — in a road
  9. wound — an injury
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. file — a line of people
  12. court — of a king
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. capital — money
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. court — of law
  18. court — for sport
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. lie — to recline
  21. capital — a city
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. capital — a big letter

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