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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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Word bank
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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: ball · mate · fork · kid · row · court · nail · shower

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. mate — a partner
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. court — for sport
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. court — of law
  7. shower — rain
  8. mate — to breed
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. fork — in a road
  11. ball — a dance
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. mate — a friend
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. row — to paddle
  19. kid — to tease
  20. kid — child
  21. ball — a great time
  22. row — a line
  23. court — of a king
  24. shower — to wash

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