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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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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 · court · last · clip · cell · craft · spell · ruler

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. last — to go on
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. last — finally
  7. spell — a short time
  8. court — for sport
  9. craft — boats
  10. spell — letters
  11. clip — a video
  12. craft — a skill
  13. fork — in a road
  14. cell — in biology
  15. last — final
  16. court — of a king
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. clip — for paper
  20. cell — a phone
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. spell — magic
  24. clip — to cut

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