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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: court · can · rash · row · cell · rock · wound · fork

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. court — for sport
  3. court — of law
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. can — a tin
  6. court — of a king
  7. can — a tin
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. cell — in biology
  10. wound — an injury
  11. row — to paddle
  12. row — a line
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. rash — a series
  16. can — to be able to
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. rock — music
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. wound — an injury
  21. fork — in a road
  22. rash — hasty
  23. rock — a stone
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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