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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 120 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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. march — the month
  3. court — of law
  4. clip — to cut
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. branch — a division
  8. rest — what's left
  9. march — music
  10. suit — to fit
  11. march — the month
  12. clip — a video
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. suit — clothes
  15. rest — what's left
  16. court — of a king
  17. rest — a break
  18. net — after costs
  19. suit — in cards
  20. net — for catching
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. net — in sport
  23. clip — for paper
  24. lash — to lash out

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