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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. snap — to click
  3. bear — the animal
  4. file — a document
  5. capital — money
  6. race — humankind
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. file — a tool
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. tube — the underground
  12. bear — the animal
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. capital — a city
  15. race — a contest
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. tube — a container
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. file — a line of people
  21. court — of a king
  22. fork — in a road
  23. race — the arms race
  24. court — for sport

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