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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. chest — a box
  3. bank — of a river
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bank — for money
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. bank — for money
  9. club — for dancing
  10. hand — in cards
  11. season — in sport
  12. file — a document
  13. club — for golf
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. club — a group
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. file — a line of people
  19. court — of a king
  20. file — a tool
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. season — of the year
  23. court — for sport
  24. hand — help

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