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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. hand — in cards
  4. drill — a practice
  5. court — of a king
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. rest — what's left
  8. wound — an injury
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. wound — an injury
  11. clip — for paper
  12. rest — what's left
  13. drill — army training
  14. clip — a video
  15. court — of law
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — help
  19. branch — a division
  20. clip — to cut
  21. rest — a break
  22. dip — to sink
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. drill — the tool

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