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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 116 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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. file — a document
  3. court — of law
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. court — of a king
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. stem — to come from
  11. file — a tool
  12. swing — in golf
  13. mate — a friend
  14. mate — a partner
  15. mate — to breed
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. swing — music
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. swing — to play on
  20. kick — in football
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. file — a line of people

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