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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'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. court — of a king
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. court — of law
  5. craft — a skill
  6. wound — an injury
  7. root — of a word
  8. drill — army training
  9. court — for sport
  10. file — a line of people
  11. perch — the fish
  12. craft — boats
  13. drill — the tool
  14. file — a document
  15. bank — of a river
  16. root — the cause
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. bank — for money
  19. drill — a practice
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. wound — an injury
  22. root — of a plant
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. file — a tool

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