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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.

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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: hand · trunk · court · present · pound · track · current · clip

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. court — of a king
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. current — happening now
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. present — there
  8. court — of law
  9. clip — a video
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. present — the time now
  12. track — a song
  13. clip — for paper
  14. hand — help
  15. present — a gift
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. court — for sport
  19. hand — in cards
  20. current — electric
  21. current — of water
  22. pound — a weight
  23. track — a path
  24. clip — to cut

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