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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. mine — for digging
  3. court — of a king
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. file — a tool
  7. tear — to rip
  8. tear — from crying
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. court — of law
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. tear — from crying
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. file — a line of people
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. snap — to click
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. deal — to handle
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. file — a document
  24. deal — a big deal

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