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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 light ________________ burned out.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. chest — of your body
  3. court — of law
  4. mine — for digging
  5. row — a line
  6. rest — what's left
  7. clip — to cut
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. pass — a permit
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bulb — for light
  14. rest — what's left
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of a king
  17. rest — a break
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — a video
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. chest — a box
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. row — to paddle

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