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

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. bass — the fish
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. sharp — clever
  6. court — of law
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. clip — a video
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. season — of the year
  15. clip — for paper
  16. ball — a dance
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. season — in sport
  19. court — of a king
  20. branch — a division
  21. bass — low music
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. ball — a great time
  24. court — for sport

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