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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. clip — a video
  3. field — a subject
  4. court — of a king
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. charge — a price
  8. charge — in control
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. charge — electricity
  13. object — to protest
  14. field — for sport
  15. object — a thing
  16. content — happy
  17. court — for sport
  18. object — an aim
  19. content — the amount
  20. court — of law
  21. clip — to cut
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. field — farmland
  24. clip — for paper

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