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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. file — a line of people
  5. can — a tin
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. can — a tin
  9. sharp — clever
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — to rip
  13. kid — to tease
  14. file — a tool
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. file — a document
  17. last — finally
  18. pitch — completely
  19. can — to be able to
  20. kid — child
  21. tear — from crying
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. last — final
  24. fork — in a road

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