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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. file — a line of people
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. land — ground
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. file — a document
  7. present — there
  8. spell — letters
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. present — the time now
  11. fork — in a road
  12. chair — a leader
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. court — for sport
  16. spell — magic
  17. land — a country
  18. land — to come down
  19. spell — a short time
  20. present — a gift
  21. court — of law
  22. court — of a king
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. file — a tool

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