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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 116 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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. court — for sport
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. clip — a video
  5. tube — a container
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. ball — a great time
  8. hand — in cards
  9. tube — the underground
  10. clip — for paper
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. court — of a king
  13. mine — for digging
  14. spell — letters
  15. spell — a short time
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. ball — a dance
  19. court — of law
  20. hand — help
  21. clip — to cut
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. spell — magic

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