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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. pop — to visit
  3. clip — for paper
  4. court — of a king
  5. board — to get on
  6. chest — of your body
  7. board — a committee
  8. drill — army training
  9. face — to point toward
  10. face — part of the head
  11. pop — soda
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. drill — a practice
  14. pop — music
  15. stock — goods
  16. court — of law
  17. clip — a video
  18. stock — shares
  19. face — to confront
  20. chest — a box
  21. court — for sport
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. drill — the tool
  24. chest — of your body

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