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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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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: ruler · court · file · season · snap · last · trunk · row

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. last — to go on
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. court — for sport
  6. season — in sport
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. last — final
  9. file — a tool
  10. file — a line of people
  11. snap — to click
  12. file — a document
  13. court — of law
  14. season — of the year
  15. last — finally
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. court — of a king
  21. row — to paddle
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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