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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 116 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: mate · rest · cold · mouse · court · key · snap · file

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. court — of law
  3. rest — a break
  4. mate — a friend
  5. mate — a partner
  6. key — for a lock
  7. cold — an illness
  8. file — a document
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. mate — to breed
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. key — in music
  13. court — of a king
  14. file — a tool
  15. file — a line of people
  16. key — the most important part
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. rest — what's left
  20. cold — not warm
  21. snap — to click
  22. court — for sport
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. cold — the Cold War

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