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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: racket · court · date · object · kid · rock · fork · drill

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. drill — a practice
  5. court — for sport
  6. date — the fruit
  7. object — a thing
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. kid — child
  10. object — to protest
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. object — an aim
  14. drill — army training
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. drill — the tool
  18. court — of a king
  19. fork — in a road
  20. court — of law
  21. rock — a stone
  22. kid — to tease
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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