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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. court — of a king
  3. firm — a company
  4. bound — tied together
  5. bound — certain
  6. clip — for paper
  7. shower — rain
  8. game — wild animals
  9. clip — a video
  10. court — for sport
  11. shower — to wash
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — to drop
  15. bound — obliged
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. fall — the season
  18. clip — to cut
  19. firm — decided
  20. firm — steady
  21. lie — to recline
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. game — a match
  24. court — of law

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