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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. spring — a coil
  3. clip — for paper
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. clip — to cut
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. field — for sport
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. tube — the underground
  10. tube — a container
  11. spring — the season
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — farmland
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. stand — to bear
  17. bass — the fish
  18. court — of law
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. spring — of water
  21. court — for sport
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. bass — low music
  24. clip — a video

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