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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. court — of a king
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. last — to go on
  5. land — ground
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. bat — the animal
  9. land — a country
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. pound — a weight
  13. fork — in a road
  14. pit — a hole
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. land — to come down
  17. last — finally
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. last — final
  20. court — of law
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. pit — in a race
  24. court — for sport

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