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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 water is too ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bat — the animal
  3. court — of a king
  4. file — a tool
  5. squash — to crush
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. saw — the tool
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. file — a line of people
  12. court — of law
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. squash — the sport
  16. firm — steady
  17. firm — a company
  18. file — a document
  19. court — for sport
  20. cold — an illness
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. firm — decided
  23. saw — the tool
  24. cold — the Cold War

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