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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. court — of a king
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. clip — for paper
  5. file — a document
  6. track — to keep track
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. net — for catching
  9. track — a path
  10. file — a line of people
  11. plane — a tool
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. court — of law
  14. clip — to cut
  15. file — a tool
  16. rush — hurry
  17. clip — a video
  18. sharp — clever
  19. court — for sport
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. net — in sport
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. track — a song

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