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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. court — of law
  3. file — a line of people
  4. cell — a phone
  5. rush — hurry
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. cell — in biology
  9. court — for sport
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. fine — high quality
  12. file — a document
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. file — a tool
  16. pitch — completely
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. fine — all right
  19. stock — shares
  20. stock — goods
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. court — of a king

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