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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: ground · court · row · fork · file · prune · mine · rash

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. rash — a series
  4. prune — to trim
  5. row — a line
  6. prune — to trim
  7. court — for sport
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. file — a line of people
  10. mine — for digging
  11. ground — the earth
  12. fork — in a road
  13. court — of a king
  14. file — a document
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. rash — hasty
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. file — a tool
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. row — to paddle
  22. ground — a position
  23. court — of law
  24. fork — to eat with

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