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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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. clip — a video
  4. chip — for betting
  5. hand — help
  6. net — after costs
  7. hand — in cards
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. chip — to eat
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. net — for catching
  13. lie — to recline
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mine — for digging
  16. net — in sport
  17. clip — to cut
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. court — of a king
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. court — of law
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. hand — part of the 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