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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. wound — an injury
  3. clip — a video
  4. court — of a king
  5. ball — a dance
  6. squash — to crush
  7. court — of law
  8. club — a group
  9. press — newspapers
  10. wound — an injury
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. vault — a safe
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. press — a publisher
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. squash — the sport
  17. ball — a great time
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. court — for sport
  20. club — for dancing
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — for paper
  23. press — to push
  24. squash — the vegetable

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