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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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Word bank
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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: bear · fork · stock · capital · date · tube · bore · last

  1. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. last — final
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. last — to go on
  7. stock — shares
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. date — the fruit
  10. capital — a city
  11. last — finally
  12. bore — to tire
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. stock — goods
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. tube — the underground
  17. bear — the animal
  18. tube — a container
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. capital — money
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. fork — in a road

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