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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. court — for sport
  3. game — a match
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — a video
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. spring — of water
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. spring — the season
  11. lie — to recline
  12. pop — music
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. pop — soda
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. pop — to visit
  17. saw — the tool
  18. clip — for paper
  19. spring — a coil
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. court — of law
  23. court — of a king
  24. fan — a supporter

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