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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: file · tear · rash · cell · straw · cabinet · mine · court

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cell — in biology
  6. file — a document
  7. court — of a king
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — to rip
  10. rash — hasty
  11. file — a tool
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. file — a line of people
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. tear — from crying
  16. court — of law
  17. court — for sport
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. rash — a series
  23. mine — for digging
  24. mine — belonging to me

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