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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 · roll · clip · mug · drill · stick · cell · root

  1. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. clip — a video
  3. roll — a cake
  4. clip — to cut
  5. court — of law
  6. mug — a face
  7. cell — in biology
  8. court — of a king
  9. root — of a plant
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. court — for sport
  12. clip — for paper
  13. drill — army training
  14. mug — a cup
  15. roll — a list
  16. drill — a practice
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. root — of a word
  20. cell — a phone
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. drill — the tool
  24. root — the cause

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