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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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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: straw · land · court · clip · last · fork · mug · toast

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. last — final
  3. land — to come down
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. mug — a cup
  6. land — a country
  7. fork — in a road
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. court — of law
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. court — for sport
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. mug — a face
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. clip — to cut
  17. court — of a king
  18. clip — a video
  19. toast — bread
  20. clip — for paper
  21. mug — to rob
  22. last — to go on
  23. land — ground
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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