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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. present — a gift
  9. spring — a coil
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. file — a line of people
  12. file — a tool
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. spring — of water
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. foot — a measure
  18. present — there
  19. spring — the season
  20. present — the time now
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. court — of a king
  23. file — a document
  24. court — for sport

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