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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. staff — employees
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. clip — a video
  6. court — for sport
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. band — a ring
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. staff — a stick
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. rest — what's left
  13. clip — for paper
  14. band — a music group
  15. court — of law
  16. rest — a break
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. stock — goods
  19. stock — shares
  20. rest — what's left
  21. staff — employees
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. clip — to cut

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