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

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. court — of a king
  3. roll — a cake
  4. clip — for paper
  5. roll — a list
  6. season — in sport
  7. court — of law
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. court — for sport
  12. band — a music group
  13. season — of the year
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — money
  19. prune — to trim
  20. clip — to cut
  21. prune — to trim
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. band — a ring
  24. band — a rubber band

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