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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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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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. game — a match
  3. game — wild animals
  4. roll — a cake
  5. wake — a trail
  6. roll — a list
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. clip — a video
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. clip — for paper
  16. clip — to cut
  17. ball — a great time
  18. roll — on a roll

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