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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 120 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: fan · file · arm · safe · mine · ball · court · net

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. ball — a dance
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. court — of a king
  5. net — after costs
  6. safe — a strongbox
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. mine — for digging
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. court — for sport
  15. ball — a great time
  16. court — of law
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. file — a document
  20. net — for catching
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. file — a line of people
  23. net — in sport
  24. file — a tool

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