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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. net — after costs
  3. clip — a video
  4. tube — a container
  5. court — for sport
  6. clip — for paper
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. press — to push
  10. press — a publisher
  11. cue — a hint
  12. press — newspapers
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. net — for catching
  15. clip — to cut
  16. tube — the underground
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. cue — a signal
  19. net — in sport
  20. shower — to wash
  21. cue — for pool
  22. shower — rain
  23. court — of law
  24. lash — an eyelash

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