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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 help me carry this box?
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. can — a tin
  3. wind — moving air
  4. court — of a king
  5. drill — a practice
  6. rash — a series
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. court — of law
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. drill — army training
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. drill — the tool
  13. clip — to cut
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. can — a tin
  16. clip — for paper
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. wind — moving air
  20. court — for sport
  21. clip — a video
  22. pitch — completely
  23. rash — hasty
  24. racket — for tennis

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