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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. lean — to bend
  3. degree — an amount
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. pass — a permit
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. tear — to rip
  8. tear — from crying
  9. fork — in a road
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. degree — from a university
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. sharp — clever
  14. lean — thin
  15. tear — from crying
  16. prune — to trim
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. capital — a city
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. prune — to trim
  22. degree — temperature
  23. capital — money
  24. sharp — exactly

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