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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. saw — the tool
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. row — to paddle
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. file — a tool
  7. file — a line of people
  8. tear — from crying
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. saw — the tool
  12. cell — in biology
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. cell — a phone
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. file — a document
  19. court — of a king
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. court — for sport
  22. tear — from crying
  23. row — a line
  24. tear — to rip

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