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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. court — for sport
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. cell — a phone
  5. tear — to rip
  6. file — a tool
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. court — of a king
  9. toast — bread
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. kid — to tease
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. file — a document
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. file — a line of people
  16. kid — child
  17. tear — from crying
  18. branch — a division
  19. court — of law
  20. cell — in biology
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. rule — government
  24. tear — from crying

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