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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. court — of a king
  3. clip — a video
  4. fall — the season
  5. capital — a city
  6. capital — money
  7. drill — army training
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. fall — to drop
  10. court — for sport
  11. drill — the tool
  12. court — of law
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. drill — a practice
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. mate — a friend
  19. mate — a partner
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. mate — to breed
  22. clip — to cut
  23. fall — to drop
  24. temple — a place of worship

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