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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 120 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 had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. row — a line
  3. clip — to cut
  4. scale — size or range
  5. swing — music
  6. court — of law
  7. scale — in music
  8. hand — help
  9. court — for sport
  10. hand — in cards
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. swing — in golf
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. vault — a safe
  16. clip — for paper
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. court — of a king
  19. row — to paddle
  20. swing — to play on
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. clip — a video
  24. hand — part of the body

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