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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. hand — help
  3. kid — child
  4. file — a document
  5. file — a tool
  6. bass — low music
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. field — a subject
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. field — for sport
  12. court — for sport
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. stem — to come from
  16. staff — employees
  17. court — of a king
  18. file — a line of people
  19. staff — a stick
  20. kid — to tease
  21. hand — in cards
  22. staff — employees
  23. bass — the fish
  24. field — farmland

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