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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. court — for sport
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. squash — the sport
  6. swing — to play on
  7. race — the arms race
  8. court — of a king
  9. bear — the animal
  10. swing — music
  11. race — humankind
  12. fork — in a road
  13. bear — the animal
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. squash — to crush
  17. race — a contest
  18. date — the fruit
  19. row — a line
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. swing — in golf
  22. row — to paddle
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. row — a quarrel

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