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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: hand · net · row · charge · degree · fork · court · file

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. hand — help
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. row — a line
  5. court — of a king
  6. degree — an amount
  7. net — for catching
  8. degree — temperature
  9. row — to paddle
  10. degree — from a university
  11. file — a document
  12. charge — in control
  13. fork — in a road
  14. court — of law
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. charge — electricity
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. file — a tool
  19. net — after costs
  20. file — a line of people
  21. net — in sport
  22. charge — a price
  23. court — for sport
  24. fork — a garden tool

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