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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: pop · file · track · wind · rule · firm · clip · court

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. court — of law
  3. pop — music
  4. clip — to cut
  5. court — of a king
  6. track — a path
  7. file — a tool
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. clip — a video
  10. rule — government
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. file — a document
  13. firm — decided
  14. wind — moving air
  15. clip — for paper
  16. rule — a law
  17. pop — soda
  18. wind — moving air
  19. track — a song
  20. firm — a company
  21. pop — to visit
  22. firm — steady
  23. file — a line of people
  24. track — to keep track

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