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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. present — there
  3. court — for sport
  4. present — a gift
  5. court — of law
  6. stand — to bear
  7. track — to keep track
  8. ground — a position
  9. clip — for paper
  10. present — the time now
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. foot — a measure
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. clip — a video
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. ground — the earth
  17. track — a song
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. court — of a king
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. track — a path
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. clip — to cut
  24. branch — a division

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