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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 120 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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. lean — to bend
  3. chest — a box
  4. file — a line of people
  5. squash — the sport
  6. file — a tool
  7. court — of a king
  8. mug — to rob
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. court — of law
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. lean — thin
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bore — to tire
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. mug — a cup
  17. mug — a face
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. chest — of your body
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. squash — to crush
  22. file — a document
  23. mine — for digging
  24. bore — to drill

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