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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: land · kick · leaves · sharp · straw · racket · file · court

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. land — a country
  7. file — a tool
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. file — a line of people
  10. land — ground
  11. court — of law
  12. kick — in football
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. court — for sport
  15. file — a document
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. court — of a king
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. sharp — clever
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. racket — a loud noise

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