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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: scale · rash · court · clip · net · straw

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. clip — to cut
  3. court — of a king
  4. scale — size or range
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. court — for sport
  8. scale — in music
  9. net — for catching
  10. court — of law
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. clip — a video
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. clip — for paper
  15. rash — a series
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. rash — hasty
  18. net — in sport

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