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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. charge — a price
  4. court — of law
  5. charge — electricity
  6. band — a music group
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. charge — in control
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. cell — in biology
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. clip — a video
  16. bark — to shout
  17. cell — a phone
  18. clip — for paper
  19. band — a ring
  20. craft — a skill
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. court — of a king
  23. craft — boats
  24. clip — to cut

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