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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. clip — for paper
  3. game — wild animals
  4. clip — to cut
  5. tube — a container
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. bulb — for light
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. game — a match
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. clip — a video
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. tube — the underground
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. court — for sport
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. cell — a phone
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. bulb — for light
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. court — of a king

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