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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 words: he'll be late again.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. fall — the season
  3. mark — a grade
  4. kid — to tease
  5. hand — in cards
  6. bank — for money
  7. mark — a trace
  8. court — of law
  9. clip — a video
  10. court — of a king
  11. hand — help
  12. kid — child
  13. clip — to cut
  14. current — of water
  15. court — for sport
  16. bank — for money
  17. clip — for paper
  18. fall — to drop
  19. fall — to drop
  20. current — electric
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. bank — of a river
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. current — happening now

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