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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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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: clip · press · fork · wound · court · kid · calf · club

  1. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — in a road
  2. press — to push
  3. press — a publisher
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. club — for dancing
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. kid — child
  8. wound — an injury
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. kid — to tease
  11. press — newspapers
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. court — of a king
  14. clip — to cut
  15. court — for sport
  16. club — a group
  17. wound — an injury
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. court — of law
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — a video
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. club — for golf

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