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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. clip — to cut
  3. court — of a king
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. shower — to wash
  6. land — ground
  7. object — a thing
  8. land — a country
  9. rock — a stone
  10. rock — music
  11. land — to come down
  12. court — for sport
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. clip — a video
  15. kid — to tease
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — child
  19. court — of law
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. clip — for paper
  22. object — an aim
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. shower — rain

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