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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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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: clip · game · fan · fork · land · ball · rock · ground

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. land — ground
  3. ground — the earth
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. game — a match
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. land — a country
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. game — wild animals
  11. clip — to cut
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. clip — for paper
  14. ball — a dance
  15. land — to come down
  16. fork — in a road
  17. ground — a position
  18. ball — a great time
  19. rock — a stone
  20. clip — a video
  21. rock — music
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. ground — crushed
  24. fan — a supporter

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