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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: fork · court · ball · toast · cold · branch · cue · row

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. ball — a great time
  3. cold — an illness
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. ball — a dance
  6. cue — for pool
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. row — to paddle
  11. fork — in a road
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. court — of law
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. toast — bread
  16. cold — not warm
  17. court — of a king
  18. cue — a signal
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. cue — a hint
  22. court — for sport
  23. branch — a division
  24. fork — to eat with

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