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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. clip — to cut
  3. ground — crushed
  4. clip — a video
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. ground — the earth
  7. clip — for paper
  8. capital — a city
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. net — in sport
  11. court — for sport
  12. ground — a position
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. net — after costs
  15. capital — money
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. roll — a list
  18. court — of law
  19. roll — a cake
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. court — of a king

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