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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. bound — tied together
  3. ball — a great time
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. clip — to cut
  7. court — of law
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. ball — a dance
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. clip — for paper
  12. foot — a measure
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. bound — certain
  15. rash — hasty
  16. court — of a king
  17. clip — a video
  18. wake — a trail
  19. row — a line
  20. rash — a series
  21. bound — obliged
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. row — to paddle
  24. rash — on the skin

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