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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: fork · wound · chair · roll · race · land · club · net

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. net — in sport
  4. land — ground
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. roll — a list
  7. race — a contest
  8. fork — in a road
  9. wound — an injury
  10. land — to come down
  11. net — after costs
  12. land — a country
  13. wound — an injury
  14. race — humankind
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. club — for dancing
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. club — for golf
  20. club — a group
  21. race — the arms race
  22. roll — a cake
  23. chair — a leader
  24. roll — on a roll

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