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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. cell — in biology
  3. bound — certain
  4. game — a match
  5. court — of law
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. game — wild animals
  8. cell — a phone
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. race — a contest
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. fork — in a road
  15. race — the arms race
  16. bound — obliged
  17. file — a document
  18. bound — tied together
  19. court — for sport
  20. race — humankind
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. file — a line of people
  23. court — of a king
  24. file — a tool

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