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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. court — of a king
  3. bound — tied together
  4. chest — a box
  5. chest — of your body
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. face — to point toward
  8. chest — of your body
  9. face — to confront
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. bound — certain
  12. bore — to drill
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. clip — to cut
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. bore — to tire
  17. clip — for paper
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. face — part of the head
  20. court — of law
  21. court — for sport
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. bound — obliged
  24. clip — a video

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