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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. court — for sport
  3. file — a tool
  4. court — of law
  5. shower — to wash
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. mark — a trace
  9. mark — a grade
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — moving air
  12. sharp — clever
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. file — a document
  17. file — a line of people
  18. shower — rain
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. deal — to handle
  23. plane — a tool
  24. mark — to pay attention

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