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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 ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. kid — to tease
  3. clip — a video
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. wind — moving air
  7. chair — a leader
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. scale — in music
  13. court — for sport
  14. kid — child
  15. scale — size or range
  16. spell — a short time
  17. clip — for paper
  18. court — of a king
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. spell — magic
  21. wind — moving air
  22. clip — to cut
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. spell — letters

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