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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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Word bank
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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: ground · cell · face · row · file · deal · spring · court

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. ground — the earth
  3. spring — a coil
  4. court — of law
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. row — a line
  7. file — a line of people
  8. file — a document
  9. face — to confront
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. ground — crushed
  12. spring — the season
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. deal — to handle
  15. cell — in biology
  16. spring — of water
  17. file — a tool
  18. court — for sport
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. face — to point toward
  21. cell — a phone
  22. ground — a position
  23. face — part of the head
  24. row — to paddle

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