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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. court — of law
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — to cut
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. squash — to crush
  7. clip — for paper
  8. mate — to breed
  9. fall — the season
  10. mate — a friend
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. court — of a king
  13. court — for sport
  14. fall — to drop
  15. suit — in cards
  16. suit — clothes
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — the animal
  19. mate — a partner
  20. squash — the sport
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. fall — to drop
  23. pound — a weight
  24. suit — to fit

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