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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 116 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: fork · chip · tear · court · hand · straw · charge · game

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. hand — in cards
  4. tear — to rip
  5. court — of law
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. court — for sport
  8. tear — from crying
  9. charge — in control
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. game — a match
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. game — wild animals
  14. tear — from crying
  15. charge — electricity
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. fork — in a road
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. court — of a king
  21. charge — a price
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. chip — for betting
  24. chip — to eat

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