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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. court — for sport
  4. board — a committee
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. board — to get on
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. file — a line of people
  9. clip — to cut
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. file — a document
  13. clip — for paper
  14. cell — in biology
  15. mine — for digging
  16. clip — a video
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. squash — to crush
  19. court — of a king
  20. file — a tool
  21. cell — a phone
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. squash — the sport

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