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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: court · kid · cap · drill · rule · perch · file · temple

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. rule — a law
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. kid — child
  6. drill — the tool
  7. drill — army training
  8. cap — of ice
  9. cap — a lid
  10. file — a line of people
  11. file — a tool
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. court — of a king
  14. rule — government
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. perch — the fish
  17. drill — a practice
  18. court — of law
  19. file — a document
  20. kid — to tease
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. cap — a hat
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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