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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. fall — to drop
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. court — of a king
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. saw — the tool
  11. drill — the tool
  12. file — a tool
  13. court — of law
  14. drill — army training
  15. drill — a practice
  16. fall — the season
  17. fall — to drop
  18. court — for sport
  19. fine — high quality
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a line of people
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. saw — the 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