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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: stem · fan · wound · fork · rock · court · bat · cap

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. bat — the animal
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. cap — a lid
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cap — of ice
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. stem — to come from
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. cap — a hat
  12. fork — in a road
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. rock — music
  17. court — of a king
  18. court — for sport
  19. rock — a stone
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. court — of law
  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