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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. file — a line of people
  5. court — of a king
  6. rush — hurry
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. spell — magic
  9. file — a document
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. file — a tool
  12. clip — to cut
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. spell — letters
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. clip — for paper
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. spell — a short time
  23. clip — a video
  24. court — of law

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