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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. file — a line of people
  3. court — of a king
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. court — of law
  6. ball — a great time
  7. file — a tool
  8. season — of the year
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — for paper
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. pop — soda
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. pop — music
  17. clip — to cut
  18. season — in sport
  19. pop — to visit
  20. file — a document
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. ball — a dance
  24. racket — for tennis

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