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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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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: fall · file · fork · chair · wake · race

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. wake — a trail
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. race — humankind
  8. file — a tool
  9. fall — to drop
  10. chair — a leader
  11. fall — the season
  12. race — a contest
  13. file — a line of people
  14. fork — in a road
  15. file — a document
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. race — the arms race
  18. fork — to eat with

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