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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  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 — for paper
  2. court — for sport
  3. row — to paddle
  4. chip — for betting
  5. mate — a friend
  6. clip — to cut
  7. chip — to eat
  8. mate — a partner
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. mate — to breed
  11. bound — obliged
  12. rash — hasty
  13. bound — tied together
  14. bound — certain
  15. pop — soda
  16. court — of law
  17. pop — to visit
  18. pop — music
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. clip — a video
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. row — a line
  23. rash — a series
  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