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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. firm — steady
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. fine — high quality
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. prune — to trim
  7. firm — a company
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. clip — for paper
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. prune — to trim
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. court — of law
  14. clip — a video
  15. firm — decided
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. board — a committee
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. court — of a king
  22. clip — to cut
  23. board — to get on
  24. court — for sport

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