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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 116 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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. court — for sport
  3. bulb — for light
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. mine — for digging
  6. hand — help
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. file — a line of people
  10. fine — high quality
  11. file — a tool
  12. cap — a lid
  13. cap — a hat
  14. file — a document
  15. season — of the year
  16. hand — in cards
  17. court — of a king
  18. cap — of ice
  19. bulb — for light
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. court — of law
  23. season — in sport
  24. fine — a penalty

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