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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 120 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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. court — of law
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. degree — an amount
  8. march — the month
  9. march — music
  10. court — of a king
  11. rock — a stone
  12. degree — from a university
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — to cut
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. degree — temperature
  17. rock — music
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. court — for sport
  20. march — the month
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. clip — for paper
  23. file — a tool
  24. file — a document

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