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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. mine — for digging
  5. court — of law
  6. clip — a video
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. clip — for paper
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. clip — to cut
  12. face — to point toward
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. face — to confront
  15. ground — crushed
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. face — part of the head
  18. ground — the earth
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. court — for sport
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. court — of a king

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