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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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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. rule — to rule out
  4. court — of law
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — a match
  7. ball — a dance
  8. ball — a great time
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. court — of a king
  11. bear — the animal
  12. squash — the sport
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. squash — to crush
  16. clip — to cut
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. clip — for paper
  19. rule — government
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. clip — a video
  22. rule — a law
  23. bear — the animal
  24. ball — a round shape

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