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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. fall — to drop
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — a match
  5. game — wild animals
  6. clip — a video
  7. wake — a trail
  8. court — of a king
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. plane — a tool
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. clip — to cut
  14. press — newspapers
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — the season
  18. press — to push
  19. press — a publisher
  20. clip — for paper
  21. court — for sport
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. court — of law

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