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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: capital · fork · trunk · present · bat · last · fan · game

  1. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — in a road
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. capital — a city
  6. last — to go on
  7. present — a gift
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. capital — money
  13. present — the time now
  14. present — there
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. last — finally
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. last — final
  20. game — a match
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. game — wild animals
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. bat — the animal

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