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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  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. fork — a garden tool
  2. cap — a hat
  3. field — a subject
  4. net — after costs
  5. game — a match
  6. tear — to rip
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. net — in sport
  9. game — wild animals
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — from crying
  12. chip — to eat
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. net — for catching
  15. cap — of ice
  16. field — farmland
  17. chip — for betting
  18. field — for sport
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. cap — a lid
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. stand — to bear
  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