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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. clip — to cut
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. ball — a great time
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. clip — a video
  9. hand — help
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. ball — a dance
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. court — of a king
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. hand — in cards
  18. court — of law
  19. stand — to bear
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. clip — for paper

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