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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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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: object · wound · bat · track · clip · court · game · rock

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. wound — an injury
  3. game — a match
  4. rock — a stone
  5. object — a thing
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. clip — for paper
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. game — wild animals
  10. rock — music
  11. clip — to cut
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. wound — an injury
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. court — of law
  16. court — of a king
  17. clip — a video
  18. bat — the animal
  19. court — for sport
  20. object — to protest
  21. track — a path
  22. track — to keep track
  23. track — a song
  24. object — an aim

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