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

Word bank: row · court · deal · cell · cue · wound · bowl · clip

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. court — of law
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. court — of a king
  5. wound — an injury
  6. clip — to cut
  7. court — for sport
  8. cue — for pool
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. clip — a video
  14. cue — a hint
  15. cell — in biology
  16. clip — for paper
  17. cue — a signal
  18. row — to paddle
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. cell — a phone
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. row — a line
  24. deal — to handle

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