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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. file — a tool
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. court — for sport
  8. spell — a short time
  9. drill — army training
  10. spell — letters
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. court — of a king
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. spell — magic
  18. branch — a division
  19. drill — the tool
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. file — a document
  23. court — of law
  24. drill — a practice

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