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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. cap — a lid
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. hand — in cards
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. court — for sport
  7. row — a line
  8. cap — of ice
  9. court — of law
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. clip — for paper
  12. row — to paddle
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. bear — the animal
  18. clip — a video
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. cap — a hat
  21. clip — to cut
  22. hand — help
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. hide — to keep secret

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