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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — for paper
  4. present — the time now
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bass — the fish
  7. drill — the tool
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. kid — child
  11. court — of law
  12. present — a gift
  13. stem — to come from
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. court — of a king
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. drill — army training
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. drill — a practice
  21. kid — to tease
  22. present — there
  23. bass — low music
  24. stand — to bear

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