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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. rash — hasty
  3. court — for sport
  4. last — finally
  5. club — for golf
  6. clip — to cut
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. rash — a series
  9. clip — for paper
  10. roll — a cake
  11. clip — a video
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. roll — a list
  14. land — to come down
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. land — ground
  18. club — a group
  19. club — for dancing
  20. land — a country
  21. court — of a king
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. last — to go on
  24. last — final

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