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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 116 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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. rush — hurry
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. net — for catching
  9. kick — in football
  10. capital — a city
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. squash — the sport
  13. squash — to crush
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. capital — money
  18. net — in sport
  19. chair — a leader
  20. fork — in a road
  21. net — after costs
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. rush — to hurry

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