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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. chair — a leader
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — a match
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. kid — to tease
  10. fine — all right
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. fine — high quality
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. kid — child
  20. file — a line of people
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. file — a document
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. game — wild animals

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