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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. court — of a king
  3. can — a tin
  4. can — a tin
  5. snap — to click
  6. pop — music
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — for paper
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. court — of law
  14. row — to paddle
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. court — for sport
  17. clip — to cut
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. pop — soda
  20. row — a line
  21. file — a line of people
  22. file — a document
  23. can — to be able to
  24. pop — to visit

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