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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. land — ground
  4. land — to come down
  5. saw — the tool
  6. firm — decided
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a line of people
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. file — a tool
  12. tear — to rip
  13. court — of law
  14. rule — a law
  15. saw — the tool
  16. rule — government
  17. firm — steady
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. firm — a company
  20. court — for sport
  21. land — a country
  22. tear — from crying
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  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