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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. clip — for paper
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. press — newspapers
  5. court — for sport
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — a coil
  8. degree — from a university
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. fall — to drop
  11. press — to push
  12. shower — to wash
  13. fall — the season
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — temperature
  16. fall — to drop
  17. court — of a king
  18. press — a publisher
  19. clip — a video
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. spring — of water
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. shower — rain
  24. clip — to cut

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