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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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 — for sport
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. fine — all right
  5. march — music
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. file — a tool
  8. stem — to come from
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. court — of a king
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — a line
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. row — to paddle
  16. fine — high quality
  17. march — the month
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. perch — the fish
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. court — of law
  22. file — a document
  23. march — the month
  24. racket — for tennis

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