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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. plane — a tool
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. court — of law
  5. file — a tool
  6. saw — the tool
  7. pit — in a race
  8. court — of a king
  9. sharp — clever
  10. pit — a hole
  11. file — a line of people
  12. saw — the tool
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. spring — of water
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — a coil
  20. file — a document
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. roll — a list
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. court — for sport

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