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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  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. band — a ring
  2. band — a music group
  3. court — for sport
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. file — a line of people
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. lean — to bend
  9. court — of a king
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. saw — the tool
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. court — of law
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. saw — the tool
  16. file — a tool
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. lean — thin
  21. hand — in cards
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. hand — help
  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