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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 ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. court — of law
  3. saw — the tool
  4. court — for sport
  5. spring — of water
  6. file — a line of people
  7. spring — the season
  8. march — music
  9. key — in music
  10. fall — to drop
  11. file — a document
  12. march — the month
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. court — of a king
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fall — the season
  17. spring — a coil
  18. key — the most important part
  19. march — the month
  20. key — for a lock
  21. file — a tool
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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