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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 don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. court — of a king
  3. bore — to drill
  4. bore — to tire
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. shower — to wash
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. clip — a video
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. rash — a series
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. swing — to play on
  13. rash — hasty
  14. shower — rain
  15. clip — for paper
  16. court — for sport
  17. court — of law
  18. swing — in golf
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. swing — music
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. clip — to cut
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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