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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. clip — to cut
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. clip — for paper
  5. row — to paddle
  6. chair — a leader
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. stock — goods
  9. clip — a video
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. ball — a great time
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. stock — shares
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — the season
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. fall — to drop
  18. ball — a dance

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