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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: pit · dip · file · court · bound · hand · fall · pound

  1. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. court — for sport
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. file — a tool
  5. file — a document
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. fall — to drop
  10. hand — in cards
  11. dip — to sink
  12. file — a line of people
  13. court — of law
  14. bound — certain
  15. hand — help
  16. fall — to drop
  17. pit — a hole
  18. bound — tied together
  19. pit — in a race
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. fall — the season
  22. pound — a weight
  23. court — of a king
  24. bound — obliged

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