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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. clip — to cut
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. clip — a video
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. court — for sport
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. content — the amount
  9. season — of the year
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. bass — low music
  12. court — of a king
  13. bass — the fish
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. content — happy
  16. season — in sport
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. ball — a great time
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. ball — a dance
  21. court — of law
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. clip — for paper

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