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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: last · bat · kick · chair · land · ruler · field · fork

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. field — farmland
  4. field — for sport
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. land — to come down
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. last — final
  9. field — a subject
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. fork — in a road
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. kick — in football
  15. chair — a leader
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. land — ground
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. last — finally
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. land — a country
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. bat — the animal

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