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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. deal — to handle
  6. court — of a king
  7. court — for sport
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. rest — what's left
  12. court — of law
  13. rest — a break
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a line of people
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. rest — what's left
  18. cold — an illness
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. cold — not warm
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. fan — to cool the air

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