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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: squash · game · swing · court · straw · field · lie · clip

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. squash — the sport
  3. court — of law
  4. clip — to cut
  5. swing — in golf
  6. game — wild animals
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. lie — to recline
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. field — a subject
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. squash — to crush
  14. field — for sport
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. clip — for paper
  18. field — farmland
  19. swing — music
  20. court — of a king
  21. swing — to play on
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. game — a match
  24. court — for 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