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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. court — of a king
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. court — for sport
  8. wake — a trail
  9. branch — a division
  10. cue — for pool
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. scale — in music
  13. scale — size or range
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. court — of law
  16. fork — in a road
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. cue — a signal
  19. pass — a permit
  20. cue — a hint
  21. file — a tool
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. file — a document

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