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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. clip — to cut
  3. clip — for paper
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. bound — obliged
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. tube — a container
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. bound — certain
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. clip — a video
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — moving air
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of a king
  17. court — of law
  18. bound — tied together
  19. sharp — clever
  20. ground — the earth
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. ground — crushed
  23. ground — a position
  24. wind — to turn a key

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