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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: ground · chair · capital · trunk · sharp · rush · bat · fork

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. chair — a leader
  5. capital — money
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. ground — a position
  8. ground — crushed
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — a city
  16. fork — in a road
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. ground — the earth
  19. rush — hurry
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. bat — the animal
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. sharp — clever

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