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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. present — there
  3. ball — a dance
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. pop — soda
  6. court — of a king
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. present — the time now
  9. ball — a great time
  10. pop — music
  11. court — for sport
  12. court — of law
  13. tube — a container
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. present — a gift
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — a video
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. tube — the underground
  22. stem — to come from
  23. pop — to visit
  24. tube — in a tire

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