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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 120 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: mug · fork · fan · bat · court · clip · land · wave

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. land — ground
  6. bat — the animal
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. clip — for paper
  9. mug — a face
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. fork — in a road
  12. court — of law
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. court — of a king
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. court — for sport
  18. clip — to cut
  19. land — a country
  20. mug — a cup
  21. mug — to rob
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. clip — a video
  24. wave — of the sea

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