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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  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. clip — a video
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. court — of a king
  4. board — a committee
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. root — the cause
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. clip — to cut
  11. date — the fruit
  12. court — of law
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. court — for sport
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. root — of a plant
  18. board — to get on
  19. game — wild animals
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. root — of a word
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. game — a match
  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