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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 120 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: court · fork · key · last · cap · file · bound · racket

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. key — the most important part
  3. cap — a hat
  4. file — a document
  5. key — in music
  6. key — for a lock
  7. file — a tool
  8. bound — obliged
  9. last — finally
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. file — a line of people
  13. cap — a lid
  14. last — to go on
  15. fork — in a road
  16. last — final
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. bound — certain
  19. cap — of ice
  20. court — for sport
  21. court — of a king
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. bound — tied together
  24. court — of law

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