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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. clip — for paper
  5. court — of law
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. fine — high quality
  8. row — to paddle
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. court — of a king
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. row — a line
  15. cap — of ice
  16. fine — all right
  17. cap — a hat
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — to cut
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. cap — a lid
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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