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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 124 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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. face — part of the head
  3. chest — of your body
  4. charge — a price
  5. club — for dancing
  6. charge — electricity
  7. clip — a video
  8. court — of a king
  9. chest — of your body
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. file — a document
  12. court — for sport
  13. face — to point toward
  14. club — a group
  15. face — to confront
  16. charge — in control
  17. clip — to cut
  18. file — a tool
  19. clip — for paper
  20. file — a line of people
  21. chest — a box
  22. club — for golf
  23. court — of law
  24. pound — a weight

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