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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: wake · hand · mark · rock · court · toast · file · bound

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. rock — music
  3. hand — in cards
  4. court — for sport
  5. court — of a king
  6. bound — certain
  7. mark — a grade
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. file — a line of people
  10. toast — bread
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. bound — tied together
  14. mark — a trace
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. hand — help
  17. wake — a trail
  18. bound — obliged
  19. court — of law
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. file — a tool
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. file — a document
  24. rock — a stone

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