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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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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: court · clip · present · race · content · hide

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — a video
  3. content — happy
  4. clip — to cut
  5. court — of a king
  6. race — humankind
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. present — there
  9. present — the time now
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. race — the arms race
  13. content — the amount
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. court — of law
  16. present — a gift
  17. court — for sport
  18. race — a contest

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