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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. capital — money
  4. cold — not warm
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. bass — low music
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bass — the fish
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. snap — to click
  13. mark — a trace
  14. cold — an illness
  15. saw — the tool
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. fork — in a road
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. saw — the tool
  22. capital — a city
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. mark — a grade

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