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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. ball — a dance
  4. ball — a great time
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — to cut
  7. net — in sport
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. rock — music
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. cold — an illness
  13. clip — for paper
  14. court — of law
  15. staff — employees
  16. court — for sport
  17. rock — a stone
  18. cold — not warm
  19. net — for catching
  20. net — after costs
  21. staff — a stick
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. staff — employees
  24. rock — to move gently

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