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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 120 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
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: hide · clip · mouse · march · court · cold · leaves · tube

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. cold — not warm
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. clip — a video
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. march — the month
  8. clip — to cut
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. court — of law
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. tube — the underground
  17. cold — an illness
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. march — music
  20. march — the month
  21. tube — a container
  22. court — for sport
  23. court — of a king
  24. leaves — of a tree

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