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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: court · band · mine · row · kid · firm · fork · roll

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. firm — decided
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. firm — steady
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. court — of a king
  9. kid — child
  10. row — to paddle
  11. court — of law
  12. row — a line
  13. kid — to tease
  14. fork — in a road
  15. band — a music group
  16. firm — a company
  17. roll — a list
  18. mine — for digging
  19. court — for sport
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. roll — a cake
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. band — a ring

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