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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. key — in music
  3. clip — a video
  4. key — for a lock
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. clip — to cut
  7. kid — child
  8. court — of a king
  9. race — humankind
  10. fall — the season
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. clip — for paper
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kid — to tease
  15. saw — the tool
  16. fall — to drop
  17. court — for sport
  18. saw — the tool
  19. race — a contest
  20. court — of law
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. key — the most important part
  23. race — the arms race
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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