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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: clip · pit · fork · roll · row · face · court · bat

  1. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. court — of law
  3. court — for sport
  4. face — to confront
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. clip — to cut
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. face — part of the head
  11. fork — in a road
  12. court — of a king
  13. bat — the animal
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. roll — a list
  17. clip — a video
  18. pit — a hole
  19. row — to paddle
  20. roll — a cake
  21. face — to point toward
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. row — a line

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