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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: last · fork · chair · craft · cell · wound · snap · nail

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. craft — boats
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. last — final
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. wound — an injury
  11. snap — to click
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. cell — a phone
  14. craft — a skill
  15. last — to go on
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. chair — a leader
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. wound — an injury
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. last — finally
  23. cell — in biology
  24. fork — in a road

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