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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. pass — to spend time
  3. court — of a king
  4. mug — a face
  5. bat — the animal
  6. wound — an injury
  7. court — for sport
  8. fine — high quality
  9. chest — of your body
  10. fine — all right
  11. court — of law
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. chest — a box
  15. file — a line of people
  16. mug — a cup
  17. pass — a permit
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. file — a tool
  20. chest — of your body
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. mug — to rob
  24. file — a document

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