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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: pit · fork · cold · firm · chair · plane

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. firm — decided
  4. plane — a tool
  5. firm — steady
  6. firm — a company
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. cold — an illness
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. chair — a leader
  12. fork — in a road
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. pit — in a race
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. pit — a hole
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. cold — not warm

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