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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. race — a contest
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. craft — boats
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. bark — to shout
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. field — for sport
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. capital — money
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. craft — a skill
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — farmland
  19. capital — a city
  20. kick — in football
  21. race — humankind
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. fork — in a road
  24. race — the arms race

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