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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. capital — money
  3. current — happening now
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. wind — moving air
  14. current — electric
  15. fork — in a road
  16. cell — a phone
  17. wind — moving air
  18. current — of water
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. capital — a city
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cell — in a prison

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