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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: mine · lean · ruler · drill · fork · hand · court · file

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. court — of law
  4. mine — for digging
  5. lean — thin
  6. drill — the tool
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. drill — a practice
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. file — a document
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. drill — army training
  14. hand — in cards
  15. hand — help
  16. fork — in a road
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. lean — to bend
  19. court — of a king
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. file — a line of people
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. file — a tool
  24. ruler — for measuring

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