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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: prune · court · band · sharp · staff · bowl · fork · hand

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. staff — employees
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — to trim
  6. court — for sport
  7. sharp — clever
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. hand — help
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. staff — employees
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. hand — in cards
  15. court — of a king
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. band — a music group
  19. band — a ring
  20. staff — a stick
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. fork — in a road
  24. court — of law

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