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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. drill — the tool
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. file — a document
  6. court — of law
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. court — for sport
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. lean — thin
  12. drill — army training
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. drill — a practice
  16. march — the month
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. march — music
  19. mine — for digging
  20. march — the month
  21. lean — to bend
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a tool
  24. jam — in traffic

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