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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. clip — for paper
  3. clip — a video
  4. board — a committee
  5. club — for dancing
  6. field — farmland
  7. court — of a king
  8. row — a line
  9. fall — the season
  10. board — to get on
  11. club — a group
  12. clip — to cut
  13. court — for sport
  14. fall — to drop
  15. kick — in football
  16. field — a subject
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. club — for golf
  19. fall — to drop
  20. row — to paddle
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. field — for sport

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