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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: fork · capital · cold · mark · season · chest · prune · kick

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. mark — a grade
  3. chest — a box
  4. prune — to trim
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. season — of the year
  9. mark — a trace
  10. fork — in a road
  11. capital — money
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. season — in sport
  14. cold — not warm
  15. capital — a city
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. chest — of your body
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. kick — in football
  23. prune — to trim
  24. mark — to pay attention

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