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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. file — a tool
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. court — for sport
  5. court — of a king
  6. kid — to tease
  7. rest — a break
  8. file — a line of people
  9. file — a document
  10. fall — to drop
  11. kid — child
  12. fall — to drop
  13. rest — what's left
  14. game — wild animals
  15. game — a match
  16. fall — the season
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. court — of law

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