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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: lean · perch · pitcher · file · hand · tube · court · rule

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. file — a tool
  4. court — for sport
  5. court — of a king
  6. hand — help
  7. tube — a container
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. lean — to bend
  10. tube — the underground
  11. hand — in cards
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. file — a document
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. rule — government
  17. file — a line of people
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. perch — the fish
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. rule — a law
  24. court — of law

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