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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 seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. court — of a king
  3. clip — for paper
  4. hand — in cards
  5. rash — a series
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. clip — a video
  10. wind — moving air
  11. rash — hasty
  12. bear — the animal
  13. court — of law
  14. bear — the animal
  15. key — the most important part
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. court — for sport
  18. key — in music
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. hand — help
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. wind — moving air
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. key — for a lock

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