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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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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: court · file · cell · fine · fall · rule

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. fall — to drop
  3. file — a line of people
  4. fall — to drop
  5. cell — in biology
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cell — a phone
  8. rule — a law
  9. court — for sport
  10. fall — the season
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. file — a document
  14. fine — all right
  15. court — of law
  16. rule — government
  17. file — a tool
  18. court — of a king

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