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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: mate · cell · club · court · pitch · lash · fork · land

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. club — a group
  3. cell — a phone
  4. pitch — completely
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. mate — to breed
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. club — for golf
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. land — a country
  13. court — for sport
  14. cell — in biology
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — ground
  18. court — of law
  19. mate — a partner
  20. mate — a friend
  21. fork — in a road
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. court — of a king
  24. club — for dancing

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