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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: fork · bat · rule · mate · capital · race

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. capital — a city
  4. mate — a partner
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. bat — the animal
  7. race — a contest
  8. fork — in a road
  9. rule — government
  10. mate — to breed
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. mate — a friend
  14. capital — money
  15. rule — a law
  16. race — humankind
  17. race — the arms race
  18. fork — a garden tool

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