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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.

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: court · rush · field · cold · fork · bat · key · pass

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. rush — hurry
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. court — for sport
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. fork — in a road
  9. cold — not warm
  10. court — of law
  11. key — for a lock
  12. bat — the animal
  13. key — in music
  14. field — a subject
  15. cold — an illness
  16. field — for sport
  17. pass — a permit
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. court — of a king
  22. field — farmland
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. key — the most important part

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