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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. file — a document
  3. ball — a dance
  4. cold — an illness
  5. rock — a stone
  6. rock — music
  7. charge — electricity
  8. perch — the fish
  9. scale — size or range
  10. cold — not warm
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. file — a tool
  14. court — of law
  15. file — a line of people
  16. charge — in control
  17. court — for sport
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. charge — a price
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. scale — in music
  24. court — of a king

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