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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  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. court — of a king
  2. bound — certain
  3. press — to push
  4. kid — to tease
  5. fall — to drop
  6. press — newspapers
  7. net — after costs
  8. court — of law
  9. face — part of the head
  10. kid — child
  11. clip — for paper
  12. face — to confront
  13. bound — tied together
  14. clip — a video
  15. fall — to drop
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. press — a publisher
  18. net — in sport
  19. face — to point toward
  20. fall — the season
  21. court — for sport
  22. net — for catching
  23. bound — obliged
  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