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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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. court — of a king
  3. last — final
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. court — of law
  6. last — finally
  7. clip — for paper
  8. season — in sport
  9. mate — to breed
  10. present — the time now
  11. present — there
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. clip — to cut
  14. season — of the year
  15. court — for sport
  16. ball — a great time
  17. mate — a friend
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. last — to go on
  20. present — a gift
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. clip — a video
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. mate — a partner

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