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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. land — to come down
  3. court — of law
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — an injury
  6. fork — in a road
  7. swing — music
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — a coil
  10. court — for sport
  11. land — ground
  12. court — of a king
  13. swing — in golf
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. land — a country
  16. swing — to play on
  17. ground — crushed
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. ground — a position
  21. spring — of water
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. ground — the earth
  24. leaves — lets stay

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