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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: rule · court · content · file · coach · lash · dip · field

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. content — happy
  3. court — for sport
  4. field — for sport
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. field — a subject
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. court — of law
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. rule — a law
  12. file — a tool
  13. court — of a king
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. file — a document
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. file — a line of people
  20. field — farmland
  21. content — the amount
  22. dip — to sink
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. rule — government

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