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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — employees
  3. track — a song
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. court — of law
  6. land — a country
  7. dip — to sink
  8. file — a tool
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. land — to come down
  11. file — a document
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. track — a path
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. court — of a king
  16. track — to keep track
  17. file — a line of people
  18. land — ground
  19. staff — a stick
  20. bat — the animal
  21. squash — to crush
  22. squash — the sport
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. court — for sport

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