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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. court — of law
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. kick — in football
  6. hand — help
  7. court — of a king
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — for paper
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. hand — in cards
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. branch — a division
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. court — for sport
  22. clip — a video
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. hand — part of the body

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