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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 116 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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. rock — music
  4. file — a document
  5. court — of a king
  6. court — for sport
  7. clip — a video
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. court — of law
  11. club — for dancing
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. club — a group
  14. rock — a stone
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. clip — for paper
  18. clip — to cut
  19. game — wild animals
  20. game — a match
  21. fine — high quality
  22. file — a line of people
  23. club — for golf
  24. file — a tool

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