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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 120 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: fork · wind · bowl · snap · pit · land · capital · wake

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. land — to come down
  3. wind — moving air
  4. capital — money
  5. land — ground
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. fork — in a road
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. pit — in a race
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. capital — a city
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. snap — to click
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. wake — a trail
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. land — a country
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. pit — a hole

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