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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. clip — for paper
  3. court — of law
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. object — an aim
  6. court — of a king
  7. club — for dancing
  8. ground — crushed
  9. object — a thing
  10. object — to protest
  11. club — for golf
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. club — a group
  14. clip — a video
  15. dip — to sink
  16. clip — to cut
  17. ground — the earth
  18. current — of water
  19. current — happening now
  20. file — a line of people
  21. current — electric
  22. file — a tool
  23. ground — a position
  24. file — a document

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