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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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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: court · file · rush · game · saw · trunk · rule · cap

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. rush — hurry
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. saw — the tool
  6. game — a match
  7. rule — a law
  8. rule — government
  9. game — wild animals
  10. cap — a lid
  11. court — of law
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. saw — the tool
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. court — of a king
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. file — a line of people
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. cap — a hat
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. cap — of ice
  23. file — a tool
  24. file — a document

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