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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. chip — to eat
  3. ball — a dance
  4. shower — to wash
  5. chip — for betting
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. court — for sport
  8. clip — a video
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. ball — a great time
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. clip — for paper
  15. swing — to play on
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. swing — in golf
  18. swing — music
  19. shower — rain
  20. clip — to cut
  21. court — of a king
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. craft — boats
  24. craft — a skill

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