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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: dip · court · ground · rest · last · file · cell · bear

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. bear — the animal
  3. last — final
  4. file — a line of people
  5. ground — crushed
  6. court — of a king
  7. rest — what's left
  8. bear — the animal
  9. cell — a phone
  10. last — finally
  11. court — for sport
  12. file — a tool
  13. cell — in biology
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. file — a document
  16. rest — a break
  17. ground — a position
  18. last — to go on
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. rest — what's left
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. ground — the earth
  23. court — of law
  24. dip — to sink

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