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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 124 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: sharp · tear · mark · court · file · rush · cell · arm

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. file — a line of people
  4. court — for sport
  5. mark — a grade
  6. tear — to rip
  7. cell — in biology
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. tear — from crying
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. file — a tool
  14. cell — a phone
  15. rush — hurry
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. court — of law
  18. tear — from crying
  19. sharp — clever
  20. file — a document
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. mark — a trace

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