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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 124 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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — for paper
  4. can — to be able to
  5. clip — to cut
  6. cell — a phone
  7. cell — in biology
  8. court — of a king
  9. can — a tin
  10. mine — for digging
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. stock — goods
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. stock — shares
  15. court — of law
  16. pitch — completely
  17. rock — music
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. can — a tin
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. rock — a stone
  24. mine — belonging to me

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