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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: ground · fork · foot · pit · wind · cold · key · bore

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bore — to tire
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. ground — the earth
  7. bore — to drill
  8. cold — an illness
  9. pit — in a race
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. ground — crushed
  12. fork — in a road
  13. key — in music
  14. wind — moving air
  15. key — the most important part
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. foot — a measure
  18. key — for a lock
  19. wind — moving air
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. pit — a hole
  22. ground — a position
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. wind — to turn a key

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