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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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  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. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. scale — size or range
  4. court — for sport
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. file — a tool
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. court — of law
  13. rash — hasty
  14. court — of a king
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. scale — in music
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. file — a document
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. rash — a series
  23. ruler — for measuring
  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