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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — for paper
  3. rash — a series
  4. rest — a break
  5. last — final
  6. rest — what's left
  7. court — for sport
  8. last — finally
  9. rash — hasty
  10. fork — in a road
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. last — to go on
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. land — ground
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. clip — a video
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. rest — what's left
  19. land — a country
  20. court — of law
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. land — to come down
  24. court — of a king

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