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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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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: file · cold · court · pass · mate · straw · rule · perch

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. file — a document
  3. cold — an illness
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. court — of a king
  6. rule — government
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. mate — a friend
  9. mate — a partner
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. mate — to breed
  12. pass — a permit
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. file — a tool
  16. cold — not warm
  17. court — of law
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. court — for sport
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. perch — the fish
  22. rule — a law
  23. pass — to succeed
  24. perch — for a bird

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