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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. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. bank — of a river
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. bank — for money
  5. court — for sport
  6. game — a match
  7. chest — a box
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. game — wild animals
  10. fine — all right
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. file — a line of people
  13. file — a tool
  14. file — a document
  15. fine — high quality
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. chest — of your body
  18. court — of a king
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. chest — of your body
  21. bank — for money
  22. court — of law
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. jam — in traffic

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