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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 116 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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. court — for sport
  3. hand — help
  4. hand — in cards
  5. club — a group
  6. clip — a video
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. court — of law
  9. fine — high quality
  10. fine — all right
  11. mate — a friend
  12. row — a line
  13. mate — a partner
  14. mate — to breed
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. clip — to cut
  17. club — for dancing
  18. club — for golf
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. clip — for paper
  23. row — to paddle
  24. bowl — a football 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