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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 120 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: drill · kick · chair · file · court · cold

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. court — of a king
  3. kick — in football
  4. drill — the tool
  5. drill — army training
  6. court — of law
  7. file — a document
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. cold — not warm
  10. chair — a leader
  11. drill — a practice
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. court — for sport
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. file — a line of people
  18. cold — an illness

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