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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. present — there
  3. ground — crushed
  4. ground — a position
  5. track — to keep track
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. tear — to rip
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. clip — to cut
  10. present — the time now
  11. present — a gift
  12. track — a path
  13. court — of a king
  14. fall — to drop
  15. clip — for paper
  16. track — a song
  17. fall — to drop
  18. ground — the earth
  19. fall — the season
  20. tear — from crying
  21. vault — a safe
  22. tear — from crying
  23. court — for sport
  24. clip — a video

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