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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 116 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 kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. fall — to drop
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. wind — moving air
  5. court — for sport
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. ball — a dance
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. shower — rain
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — to cut
  12. court — of law
  13. shower — to wash
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. prune — to trim
  16. ball — a great time
  17. fall — the season
  18. wind — moving air
  19. fall — to drop
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. court — of a king
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. clip — a video
  24. prune — to trim

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