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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. object — a thing
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. court — for sport
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. court — of a king
  7. file — a tool
  8. object — to protest
  9. file — a line of people
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. degree — temperature
  14. court — of law
  15. degree — from a university
  16. fork — in a road
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. object — an aim
  21. hand — in cards
  22. file — a document
  23. lie — to recline
  24. degree — an amount

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