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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. hand — help
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. file — a document
  5. court — of a king
  6. clip — for paper
  7. hand — in cards
  8. file — a line of people
  9. court — of law
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. deal — to handle
  12. branch — a division
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. track — to keep track
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. track — a path
  20. file — a tool
  21. court — for sport
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. track — a song
  24. branch — of a tree

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