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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. court — of a king
  4. kid — to tease
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. rush — hurry
  7. file — a line of people
  8. track — to keep track
  9. land — to come down
  10. land — ground
  11. net — after costs
  12. court — of law
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. kid — child
  15. net — for catching
  16. track — a song
  17. land — a country
  18. net — in sport
  19. root — of a word
  20. file — a tool
  21. court — for sport
  22. track — a path
  23. root — the cause
  24. root — of a plant

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