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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: fork · mate · squash · fan · chest · toast · ground · court

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  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. squash — the sport
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. court — for sport
  4. ground — a position
  5. court — of law
  6. chest — a box
  7. court — of a king
  8. ground — crushed
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. mate — to breed
  14. chest — of your body
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. mate — a partner
  17. squash — to crush
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. toast — bread
  20. mate — a friend
  21. ground — the earth
  22. fork — in a road
  23. chest — of your body
  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