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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. clip — for paper
  5. scale — size or range
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. court — of law
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. stem — to come from
  11. court — of a king
  12. clip — a video
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. dip — to sink
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. scale — in music
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. clip — to cut
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. wave — of the sea

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