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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: fork · court · scale · rash · lean · present · clip · kid

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. kid — to tease
  4. court — for sport
  5. clip — for paper
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. kid — child
  10. present — there
  11. present — the time now
  12. clip — to cut
  13. scale — in music
  14. present — a gift
  15. lean — to bend
  16. clip — a video
  17. lean — thin
  18. court — of law
  19. rash — a series
  20. rash — hasty
  21. court — of a king
  22. fork — in a road
  23. scale — size or range
  24. lean — to rest against

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