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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. court — of law
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. court — for sport
  5. last — finally
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. last — to go on
  10. plane — a tool
  11. clip — a video
  12. court — of a king
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. ball — a dance
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. clip — for paper
  19. last — final
  20. foot — a measure
  21. ball — a great time
  22. mine — for digging
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. foot — part of the body

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