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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: court · rest · pop · bound · fork · land · cold · firm

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. land — a country
  3. land — ground
  4. pop — to visit
  5. pop — soda
  6. rest — what's left
  7. cold — an illness
  8. firm — a company
  9. pop — music
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bound — certain
  12. court — of law
  13. bound — obliged
  14. rest — a break
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of a king
  17. firm — decided
  18. fork — in a road
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. firm — steady
  21. bound — tied together
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. land — to come down
  24. fork — to eat with

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