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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. clip — for paper
  3. court — of a king
  4. band — a ring
  5. clip — a video
  6. court — of law
  7. march — music
  8. march — the month
  9. clip — to cut
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. court — for sport
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. rush — hurry
  18. march — the month
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. band — a music group
  21. stem — to come from
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. hand — in cards

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