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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: vault · capital · cold · cabinet · fork · field

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. fork — in a road
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. field — farmland
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — a subject
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. vault — a safe
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — money
  18. cold — an illness

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