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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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. court — of a king
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. ball — a dance
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. court — for sport
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. present — a gift
  9. court — of law
  10. clip — for paper
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. present — the time now
  13. tear — to rip
  14. clip — a video
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bear — the animal
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. tear — from crying
  21. ball — a great time
  22. present — there
  23. tear — from crying
  24. clip — to cut

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