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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. court — of a king
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — to cut
  8. rest — what's left
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. clip — for paper
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. rest — what's left
  13. race — the arms race
  14. game — a match
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. court — for sport
  17. rest — a break
  18. pass — a permit
  19. race — humankind
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. race — a contest
  24. court — of law

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