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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: fan · clip · wind · fork · court · chip · chair · swing

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. clip — to cut
  4. chair — a leader
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. wind — moving air
  8. court — of a king
  9. chip — to eat
  10. fork — in a road
  11. wind — moving air
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. court — for sport
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. swing — in golf
  17. court — of law
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. swing — to play on
  20. clip — for paper
  21. swing — music
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. clip — a video
  24. chip — for betting

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