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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 newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. file — a tool
  3. swing — music
  4. court — of a king
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. land — ground
  7. band — a ring
  8. swing — to play on
  9. court — of law
  10. court — for sport
  11. net — after costs
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. net — in sport
  14. swing — in golf
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. land — a country
  18. band — a music group
  19. foot — a measure
  20. land — to come down
  21. dip — to sink
  22. file — a document
  23. net — for catching
  24. file — a line of people

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