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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: squash · mine · fork · pit · tear · rule · court · net

  1. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — in a road
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. net — for catching
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. net — after costs
  7. rule — a law
  8. pit — a hole
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. court — of a king
  11. mine — for digging
  12. squash — to crush
  13. tear — from crying
  14. pit — in a race
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. net — in sport
  18. court — of law
  19. court — for sport
  20. rule — government
  21. tear — to rip
  22. tear — from crying
  23. squash — the sport
  24. mine — an explosive

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