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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. land — to come down
  3. clip — a video
  4. dip — to sink
  5. court — of a king
  6. court — for sport
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. clip — to cut
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. shower — rain
  12. chair — a leader
  13. cue — a signal
  14. clip — for paper
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. land — a country
  17. court — of law
  18. cue — for pool
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. shower — to wash
  21. board — a committee
  22. cue — a hint
  23. board — to get on
  24. dip — a sauce

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