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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: dip · clip · game · land · court · track · spring · fork

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. track — a path
  3. court — of law
  4. spring — of water
  5. clip — for paper
  6. spring — the season
  7. clip — a video
  8. dip — to sink
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. game — wild animals
  11. game — a match
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. land — ground
  14. track — to keep track
  15. land — a country
  16. court — for sport
  17. track — a song
  18. court — of a king
  19. fork — in a road
  20. spring — a coil
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. land — to come down
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. clip — to cut

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