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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 124 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: fork · fall · capital · chest · wind · game

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. chest — a box
  3. chest — of your body
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. fall — to drop
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. capital — a city
  8. fall — the season
  9. wind — moving air
  10. fork — in a road
  11. capital — money
  12. fall — to drop
  13. game — wild animals
  14. chest — of your body
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. game — a match
  18. wind — moving air

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