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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: court · fork · cold · shower · mark · hand · clip · foot

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. cold — not warm
  3. clip — a video
  4. fork — in a road
  5. hand — help
  6. shower — rain
  7. hand — in cards
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. court — of law
  11. mark — a grade
  12. shower — to wash
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. foot — a measure
  18. court — of a king
  19. court — for sport
  20. cold — an illness
  21. mark — a trace
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — for paper
  24. foot — part of the body

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