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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: game · file · scale · dip · patient · squash · jam · court

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. file — a tool
  5. court — of law
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. game — wild animals
  8. scale — size or range
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. game — a match
  11. scale — in music
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. squash — the sport
  15. court — of a king
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. squash — to crush
  19. file — a document
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. file — a line of people
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. dip — to sink
  24. jam — in traffic

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