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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. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. fork — in a road
  3. present — a gift
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. land — a country
  6. court — of law
  7. bulb — for light
  8. land — ground
  9. chip — to eat
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bulb — for light
  12. clip — a video
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. present — there
  15. clip — for paper
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. chip — for betting
  18. land — to come down
  19. court — of a king
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. present — the time now
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. fork — a garden tool

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