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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. wound — an injury
  5. rush — hurry
  6. court — of law
  7. clip — to cut
  8. shower — to wash
  9. current — happening now
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. clip — for paper
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. court — of a king
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. current — electric
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. shower — rain
  21. current — of water
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. clip — a video
  24. wound — an injury

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