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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: date · cold · mouse · land · suit · court · fork · calf

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. suit — to fit
  3. date — the fruit
  4. suit — in cards
  5. court — of a king
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. cold — not warm
  8. land — to come down
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. fork — in a road
  15. suit — clothes
  16. land — a country
  17. court — of law
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. court — for sport
  22. land — ground
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. cold — an illness

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