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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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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: march · fork · leaves · row · club · kid · bowl · capital

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. club — for dancing
  4. row — to paddle
  5. kid — to tease
  6. row — a line
  7. capital — money
  8. march — the month
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. fork — in a road
  14. march — music
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. club — for golf
  20. capital — a city
  21. club — a group
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. kid — child
  24. march — the month

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