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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. wound — an injury
  3. fall — the season
  4. roll — a list
  5. court — for sport
  6. court — of a king
  7. wound — an injury
  8. fork — in a road
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. roll — a cake
  11. file — a document
  12. bear — the animal
  13. file — a tool
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. fall — to drop
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. court — of law
  19. fall — to drop
  20. file — a line of people
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. bear — the animal
  23. hand — help
  24. bear — to put up with

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