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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. court — of law
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. clip — a video
  7. file — a tool
  8. track — a path
  9. court — for sport
  10. clip — for paper
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. roll — a cake
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. roll — a list
  15. deal — to handle
  16. court — of a king
  17. file — a document
  18. file — a line of people
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. clip — to cut
  21. track — to keep track
  22. track — a song
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. hand — help

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