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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 took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. pit — in a race
  4. court — of a king
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. clip — a video
  7. court — for sport
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. kid — child
  10. clip — for paper
  11. saw — the tool
  12. bound — tied together
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. bound — obliged
  18. bound — certain
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pit — a hole
  21. court — of law
  22. saw — the tool
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. shower — to wash

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