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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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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: court · cold · rule · rock · saw · deal · present · clip

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. court — of law
  4. deal — to handle
  5. rock — a stone
  6. court — for sport
  7. cold — not warm
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. present — a gift
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — to cut
  13. rock — music
  14. cold — an illness
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. clip — for paper
  17. rule — government
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. court — of a king
  20. present — the time now
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — the tool
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. rule — a law

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