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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: stock · fork · saw · kid · capital · board · chest · cell

  1. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. fork — in a road
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. board — a committee
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. board — to get on
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. kid — to tease
  8. capital — money
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. stock — shares
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. stock — goods
  14. saw — the tool
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. chest — of your body
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. capital — a city
  19. cell — in biology
  20. kid — child
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — a box
  23. saw — the tool
  24. cell — a phone

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