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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 120 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: bat · club · file · pound · fork · land · board · sharp

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. club — a group
  3. fork — in a road
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. board — a committee
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. pound — a weight
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. club — for golf
  13. board — to get on
  14. land — to come down
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. sharp — clever
  17. land — ground
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. land — a country
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. file — a tool
  22. file — a document
  23. club — for dancing
  24. file — a line of people

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