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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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 law
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. rock — music
  5. rock — a stone
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. fine — all right
  8. cell — in biology
  9. fine — high quality
  10. spring — a coil
  11. bore — to drill
  12. cell — a phone
  13. court — of a king
  14. wound — an injury
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. court — for sport
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. spring — the season
  20. fork — in a road
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. spring — of water
  23. bore — to tire
  24. wound — an injury

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