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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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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: rest · court · clip · drill · spring · pit · bark · wound

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. bark — to shout
  3. wound — an injury
  4. pit — in a race
  5. court — of law
  6. clip — a video
  7. drill — the tool
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. clip — for paper
  10. drill — a practice
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rest — what's left
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. drill — army training
  15. spring — the season
  16. spring — a coil
  17. court — of a king
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. court — for sport
  21. pit — a hole
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. rest — a break
  24. spring — of water

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