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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. pit — a hole
  3. court — for sport
  4. lean — to bend
  5. court — of a king
  6. charge — in control
  7. game — a match
  8. pit — in a race
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — for paper
  11. charge — electricity
  12. game — wild animals
  13. pitch — completely
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. club — for golf
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. lean — thin
  19. clip — a video
  20. charge — a price
  21. club — a group
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. court — of law
  24. pitch — a sports field

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