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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. file — a tool
  3. file — a document
  4. perch — the fish
  5. hand — help
  6. mate — a friend
  7. spell — letters
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. spell — magic
  10. spell — a short time
  11. chair — a leader
  12. mug — to rob
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. court — of a king
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. mug — a face
  17. court — of law
  18. mate — a partner
  19. mug — a cup
  20. hand — in cards
  21. file — a line of people
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. mate — to breed

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