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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: hand · court · pit · craft · fork · club · kid · content

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. club — for golf
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. content — the amount
  6. pit — a hole
  7. kid — to tease
  8. content — happy
  9. craft — a skill
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. fork — in a road
  12. kid — child
  13. hand — in cards
  14. club — for dancing
  15. court — of law
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. court — of a king
  19. club — a group
  20. craft — boats
  21. court — for sport
  22. pit — in a race
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. hand — help

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