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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 · fork · hand · rest · craft · bore · field · key

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bore — to tire
  3. race — a contest
  4. craft — a skill
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rest — a break
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. bore — to drill
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. rest — what's left
  12. key — the most important part
  13. field — for sport
  14. race — the arms race
  15. race — humankind
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. fork — in a road
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — farmland
  20. key — in music
  21. hand — in cards
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. key — for a lock
  24. craft — boats

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