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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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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: sharp · shower · bore · capital · fork · pop · rest · cold

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. capital — a city
  4. rest — what's left
  5. rest — what's left
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. capital — money
  8. sharp — clever
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. shower — to wash
  11. pop — soda
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. shower — rain
  14. pop — music
  15. pop — to visit
  16. fork — in a road
  17. cold — an illness
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. bore — to tire
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. bore — to drill
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. rest — a break
  24. cold — not warm

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