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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. rest — a break
  3. rest — what's left
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. fine — high quality
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. hand — in cards
  8. pitch — completely
  9. hand — help
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. court — for sport
  12. file — a tool
  13. court — of a king
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. present — the time now
  16. present — there
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a document
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. rest — what's left
  21. court — of law
  22. present — a gift
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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