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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 120 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. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. court — of law
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. ball — a great time
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bank — of a river
  8. ball — a dance
  9. cold — not warm
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. bank — for money
  12. game — wild animals
  13. court — for sport
  14. game — a match
  15. court — of a king
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. lie — to recline
  21. cold — an illness
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. clip — a video
  24. clip — for paper

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