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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. court — of law
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. scale — in music
  8. court — of a king
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. deal — to handle
  12. fork — in a road
  13. roll — a cake
  14. swing — music
  15. row — to paddle
  16. row — a line
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. scale — size or range
  19. court — for sport
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. roll — a list
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. swing — in golf
  24. swing — to play on

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