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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: fork · race · straw · bat · capital · rest · saw · stem

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. saw — the tool
  3. fork — in a road
  4. rest — a break
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. capital — a city
  8. stem — to come from
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. bat — the animal
  11. race — a contest
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. capital — money
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. saw — the tool
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. race — humankind
  21. race — the arms race
  22. rest — what's left
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. stem — of a plant

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