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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. file — a tool
  3. file — a document
  4. content — the amount
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. track — a path
  7. band — a music group
  8. content — happy
  9. band — a ring
  10. court — of a king
  11. court — for sport
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. track — a song
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. file — a line of people
  17. wake — a trail
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. kick — in football
  22. track — to keep track
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. cabinet — ministers

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