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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. clip — for paper
  4. spring — the season
  5. clip — to cut
  6. press — to push
  7. scale — in music
  8. court — of a king
  9. court — for sport
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. object — a thing
  12. season — in sport
  13. press — newspapers
  14. object — an aim
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. scale — size or range
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. spring — of water
  20. object — to protest
  21. press — a publisher
  22. season — of the year
  23. clip — a video
  24. spring — a coil

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