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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. court — of a king
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. roll — a cake
  5. file — a document
  6. file — a tool
  7. cell — a phone
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. wind — moving air
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. saw — the tool
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. saw — the tool
  15. court — of law
  16. cell — in biology
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. wind — moving air
  22. roll — a list
  23. court — for sport
  24. file — a line of people

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