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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. file — a tool
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. clip — a video
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. file — a line of people
  10. wind — moving air
  11. clip — for paper
  12. court — of a king
  13. wake — a trail
  14. court — for sport
  15. clip — to cut
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. lean — thin
  19. file — a document
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. wind — moving air
  23. lean — to bend
  24. fan — a supporter

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