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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: saw · pop · club · foot · cold · court · land · fork

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. club — a group
  3. court — of law
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. court — for sport
  7. court — of a king
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. pop — to visit
  11. land — a country
  12. club — for golf
  13. foot — a measure
  14. land — ground
  15. cold — not warm
  16. fork — in a road
  17. saw — the tool
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. land — to come down
  21. club — for dancing
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pop — soda
  24. saw — the tool

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