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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 120 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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. clip — for paper
  3. clip — a video
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cue — a hint
  8. cold — an illness
  9. lean — thin
  10. lean — to bend
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. bass — low music
  13. clip — to cut
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. pound — a weight
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. court — for sport
  19. court — of a king
  20. cue — a signal
  21. cue — for pool
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. bass — the fish

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