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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: sharp · capital · race · racket · clip · squash · wake · fork

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. clip — a video
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. capital — a city
  5. fork — in a road
  6. clip — for paper
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. clip — to cut
  9. race — humankind
  10. race — a contest
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. squash — the sport
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. capital — money
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. sharp — clever
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. wake — a trail
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. race — the arms race
  24. squash — to crush

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