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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. object — to protest
  5. court — of law
  6. pop — soda
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. object — a thing
  9. clip — a video
  10. object — an aim
  11. clip — for paper
  12. court — of a king
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. clip — to cut
  16. mine — for digging
  17. court — for sport
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. pop — music
  21. squash — to crush
  22. squash — the sport
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. mine — belonging to me

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