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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: bore · game · field · stick · file · tear · court · key

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. key — for a lock
  4. file — a tool
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. game — wild animals
  7. court — of a king
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — to rip
  10. bore — to drill
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — a subject
  13. key — the most important part
  14. court — for sport
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a document
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. game — a match
  19. key — in music
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. field — for sport
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. bore — to tire
  24. tear — from crying

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