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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. rash — a series
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — to cut
  5. file — a document
  6. bound — certain
  7. rash — hasty
  8. net — after costs
  9. bound — obliged
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. court — of law
  14. court — for sport
  15. clip — a video
  16. fork — in a road
  17. bound — tied together
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. file — a tool
  20. file — a line of people
  21. net — in sport
  22. pitch — completely
  23. net — for catching
  24. fork — a garden tool

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