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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: fork · wound · court · club · shower · bore · ground · root

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. root — of a plant
  4. root — of a word
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. club — for golf
  7. court — for sport
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. ground — a position
  10. court — of law
  11. bore — to tire
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. wound — an injury
  14. bore — to drill
  15. shower — rain
  16. shower — to wash
  17. court — of a king
  18. ground — crushed
  19. club — for dancing
  20. ground — the earth
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. wound — an injury
  23. fork — in a road
  24. root — the cause

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