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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. cap — of ice
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cap — a hat
  6. court — of a king
  7. tear — to rip
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. court — for sport
  10. tear — from crying
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. mark — a trace
  14. ball — a dance
  15. ground — a position
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — to cut
  18. mark — a grade
  19. ground — crushed
  20. clip — a video
  21. cap — a lid
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. court — of law
  24. ground — the earth

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