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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  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 — to put up with
  2. land — to come down
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. kid — to tease
  5. land — a country
  6. kid — child
  7. band — a ring
  8. rush — hurry
  9. clip — for paper
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. band — a music group
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. court — of a king
  14. ball — a great time
  15. land — ground
  16. bear — the animal
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. bear — the animal
  19. ball — a dance
  20. court — of law
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. court — for sport
  23. clip — a video
  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