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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 120 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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. ball — a dance
  3. file — a tool
  4. pop — music
  5. last — finally
  6. clip — for paper
  7. court — of a king
  8. court — of law
  9. court — for sport
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. last — to go on
  12. pop — soda
  13. chip — for betting
  14. file — a document
  15. pop — to visit
  16. clip — a video
  17. chip — to eat
  18. clip — to cut
  19. ball — a great time
  20. last — final
  21. file — a line of people
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. rash — hasty

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