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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. clip — a video
  4. court — for sport
  5. court — of law
  6. season — in sport
  7. mate — a friend
  8. mine — for digging
  9. clip — to cut
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. mate — a partner
  12. clip — for paper
  13. mate — to breed
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. current — electric
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. current — happening now
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. court — of a king
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. season — of the year

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