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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 116 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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. bore — to tire
  4. hand — in cards
  5. bulb — for light
  6. hand — help
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. ground — crushed
  9. court — of law
  10. file — a document
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. ground — the earth
  13. court — of a king
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a tool
  17. land — ground
  18. bore — to drill
  19. land — to come down
  20. bulb — for light
  21. ground — a position
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. land — a country

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