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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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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 kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. 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. scale — for weighing
  2. sharp — clever
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cap — a hat
  6. court — for sport
  7. tear — from crying
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. file — a document
  10. tear — to rip
  11. file — a line of people
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. cell — a phone
  15. court — of a king
  16. scale — in music
  17. cap — a lid
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. cell — in biology
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. scale — size or range
  22. file — a tool
  23. cap — of ice
  24. 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