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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. net — after costs
  3. net — in sport
  4. clip — for paper
  5. court — of a king
  6. file — a line of people
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. pop — to visit
  10. ball — a dance
  11. court — of law
  12. pop — music
  13. root — of a plant
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. file — a tool
  16. net — for catching
  17. root — the cause
  18. clip — to cut
  19. root — of a word
  20. court — for sport
  21. file — a document
  22. clip — a video
  23. ball — a great time
  24. ball — a round shape

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