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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. court — for sport
  3. ball — a great time
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. season — of the year
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. game — a match
  8. chair — a leader
  9. swing — music
  10. ball — a dance
  11. game — wild animals
  12. clip — to cut
  13. swing — to play on
  14. court — of a king
  15. season — in sport
  16. clip — a video
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. clip — for paper
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. swing — in golf
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. game — a kind of play

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