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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: capital · fork · trunk · snap · fine · bore · saw · cold

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. capital — money
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. fine — all right
  5. bore — to drill
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. cold — an illness
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. snap — to click
  11. bore — to tire
  12. fine — high quality
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. saw — the tool
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. saw — the tool
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — not warm
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. fork — in a road
  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