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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: cold · fork · foot · capital · ground · stick · object · mine

  1. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. ground — crushed
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. fork — in a road
  5. object — a thing
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. object — to protest
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — a city
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. ground — a position
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. cold — an illness
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. mine — for digging
  20. object — an aim
  21. ground — the earth
  22. capital — money
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. foot — a measure

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