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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  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. saw — the tool
  2. ball — a dance
  3. ball — a great time
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. last — to go on
  6. net — in sport
  7. net — for catching
  8. last — final
  9. court — for sport
  10. clip — for paper
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. saw — the tool
  15. court — of law
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. last — finally
  19. net — after costs
  20. rash — a series
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. rash — hasty
  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