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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: bat · fork · capital · track · shower · ground · safe · rush

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. fork — in a road
  3. capital — money
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. rush — hurry
  9. track — a path
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. track — a song
  12. bat — the animal
  13. shower — rain
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. ground — a position
  16. ground — crushed
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. shower — to wash
  20. track — to keep track
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. ground — the earth
  24. capital — a city

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