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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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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: rush · file · straw · court · object · pop · clip · mate

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. clip — to cut
  3. file — a line of people
  4. mate — a partner
  5. mate — a friend
  6. court — of a king
  7. court — for sport
  8. pop — to visit
  9. court — of law
  10. mate — to breed
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. object — an aim
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. rush — hurry
  16. file — a document
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. pop — music
  19. object — to protest
  20. object — a thing
  21. clip — a video
  22. file — a tool
  23. clip — for paper
  24. straw — a straw man

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