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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 116 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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. file — a tool
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. degree — temperature
  6. hand — help
  7. staff — employees
  8. court — for sport
  9. march — music
  10. staff — a stick
  11. file — a document
  12. degree — an amount
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. march — the month
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. staff — employees
  18. degree — from a university
  19. rush — hurry
  20. file — a line of people
  21. march — the month
  22. court — of law
  23. hand — in cards
  24. nail — for a hammer

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