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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. court — of law
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. clip — to cut
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. wind — moving air
  7. clip — a video
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. hand — in cards
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. clip — for paper
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. fall — to drop
  14. hand — help
  15. court — for sport
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. chair — a leader
  18. present — there
  19. fall — to drop
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. fall — the season
  22. present — the time now
  23. present — a gift
  24. wind — moving air

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