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

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. cell — in biology
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. court — of a king
  6. object — to protest
  7. cell — a phone
  8. object — a thing
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. pound — a weight
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. court — for sport
  17. object — an aim
  18. clip — for paper
  19. court — of law
  20. clip — to cut
  21. fork — in a road
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. clip — a video

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