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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 · hand · mate · club · fork · mine · date · pound

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. club — a group
  3. hand — help
  4. pound — a weight
  5. court — for sport
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. fork — in a road
  8. mate — a friend
  9. mine — for digging
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. mate — a partner
  12. club — for dancing
  13. date — the fruit
  14. court — of a king
  15. hand — in cards
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. court — of law
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mate — to breed
  24. mine — belonging to me

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