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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 120 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 information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. lean — to bend
  3. court — of law
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. file — a tool
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. shower — rain
  8. lean — thin
  9. file — a line of people
  10. spell — letters
  11. court — of a king
  12. spell — magic
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. spell — a short time
  16. shower — to wash
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. court — for sport
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. pound — a weight
  23. hand — in cards
  24. hand — help

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