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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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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: wake · swing · mine · bowl · fork · chair · court · tube

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. mine — for digging
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. swing — in golf
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. court — of a king
  10. court — for sport
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. tube — a container
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. swing — to play on
  16. swing — music
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. court — of law
  19. tube — the underground
  20. wake — a trail
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. fork — in a road
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. mine — an explosive

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