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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: field · pop · court · calf · vault · clip · land · fork

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. clip — for paper
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. pop — soda
  6. court — for sport
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. pop — music
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. vault — a safe
  11. clip — to cut
  12. fork — in a road
  13. court — of law
  14. land — to come down
  15. land — a country
  16. field — for sport
  17. pop — to visit
  18. clip — a video
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. land — ground
  21. court — of a king
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — farmland

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