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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. lean — to bend
  3. clip — for paper
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. clip — to cut
  7. net — for catching
  8. clip — a video
  9. ball — a dance
  10. lean — thin
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. net — in sport
  13. net — after costs
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. rock — music
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. court — of a king
  18. court — of law
  19. ball — a great time
  20. rock — a stone
  21. pass — a permit
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. rock — to move gently

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