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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 116 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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. pop — music
  3. club — for golf
  4. pop — to visit
  5. kid — to tease
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. court — for sport
  9. court — of law
  10. file — a line of people
  11. file — a document
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kid — child
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. pound — a weight
  17. club — a group
  18. row — a line
  19. row — to paddle
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. pop — soda
  22. court — of a king
  23. club — for dancing
  24. pound — for dogs

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