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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. court — of law
  5. clip — to cut
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. ball — a dance
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. clip — a video
  10. court — of a king
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. tube — a container
  13. clip — for paper
  14. snap — to click
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. plane — a tool
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. scale — in music
  19. tube — the underground
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. scale — size or range
  24. ball — a great time

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