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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.

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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: prune · fork · court · game · chip · rule · bat · pitcher

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. bat — the animal
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. prune — to trim
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. court — for sport
  8. court — of a king
  9. game — a match
  10. fork — in a road
  11. court — of law
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. chip — to eat
  17. chip — for betting
  18. rule — a law
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. game — wild animals

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