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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: race · wind · wound · can · fork · jam · club · bat

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. race — a contest
  3. club — for dancing
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — an injury
  7. club — for golf
  8. wind — moving air
  9. can — to be able to
  10. race — the arms race
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. club — a group
  14. race — humankind
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. fork — in a road
  19. can — a tin
  20. can — a tin
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bat — the animal
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. bat — in an idiom

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