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

Word bank: wind · branch · fork · mine · court · drill · coach · wake

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. wind — moving air
  4. court — for sport
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. mine — for digging
  7. drill — a practice
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. drill — army training
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wake — a trail
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. fork — in a road
  16. drill — the tool
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. court — of a king
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. court — of law
  23. branch — a division
  24. branch — of a bank

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