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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. I seem to be developing 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. court — of law
  2. sharp — clever
  3. track — to keep track
  4. spell — a short time
  5. pop — to visit
  6. track — a path
  7. game — wild animals
  8. rash — a series
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. rash — hasty
  11. track — a song
  12. spell — magic
  13. pop — soda
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. game — a match
  16. pop — music
  17. file — a tool
  18. court — for sport
  19. file — a line of people
  20. court — of a king
  21. spell — letters
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. rash — on the skin
  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