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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. wind — moving air
  4. clip — to cut
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. capital — a city
  8. cue — for pool
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. cue — a signal
  12. court — of a king
  13. wind — moving air
  14. foot — a measure
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. lie — to recline
  17. court — for sport
  18. clip — a video
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. court — of law
  21. capital — money
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. foot — part of the body

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