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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: can · file · chest · track · court · cell · hand · roll

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. chest — of your body
  3. hand — in cards
  4. track — a song
  5. can — a tin
  6. cell — a phone
  7. track — a path
  8. roll — a list
  9. track — to keep track
  10. hand — help
  11. court — of law
  12. court — of a king
  13. roll — a cake
  14. chest — of your body
  15. file — a tool
  16. chest — a box
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. file — a document
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. can — a tin
  22. cell — in biology
  23. can — to be able to
  24. court — for sport

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