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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chest · deal · can · mine · game · clip · court · safe

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. game — a match
  4. mine — for digging
  5. chest — of your body
  6. clip — for paper
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. deal — to handle
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. game — wild animals
  11. can — a tin
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. chest — of your body
  14. clip — a video
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. clip — to cut
  18. court — for sport
  19. court — of a king
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. court — of law
  22. chest — a box
  23. can — to be able to
  24. deal — a big deal

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