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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 · bat · sharp · pound · mine · clip · temple · current

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. court — of law
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. current — happening now
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. court — of a king
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. bat — the animal
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. current — electric
  15. clip — a video
  16. pound — a weight
  17. clip — to cut
  18. sharp — clever
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. current — of water
  21. clip — for paper
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. court — for sport
  24. mine — an explosive

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