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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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. court — of law
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — to cut
  6. pass — a permit
  7. rock — a stone
  8. court — for sport
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mine — for digging
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. rock — music
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. court — of a king
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bark — to shout
  21. ball — a great time
  22. clip — for paper
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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