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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. court — for sport
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. fork — in a road
  7. file — a document
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. rash — a series
  10. file — a tool
  11. court — of law
  12. pitch — completely
  13. degree — temperature
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cell — in biology
  16. rash — hasty
  17. court — of a king
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. degree — from a university
  23. date — the fruit
  24. degree — an amount

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