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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. fine — all right
  4. court — of law
  5. court — of a king
  6. toast — bread
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. tube — the underground
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. pass — a permit
  12. fine — high quality
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. file — a tool
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. file — a line of people
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. tube — a container
  19. season — in sport
  20. file — a document
  21. court — for sport
  22. hand — in cards
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. season — of the year

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