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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 120 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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. clip — to cut
  3. court — of a king
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. safe — a strongbox
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. snap — to click
  10. court — for sport
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. hand — in cards
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — for paper
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. court — of law
  18. hand — help

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