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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: mouse · court · straw · pitch · kick · rash · bark · clip

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. clip — a video
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. clip — for paper
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. court — for sport
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. kick — in football
  14. court — of a king
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. bark — to shout
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. clip — to cut
  19. court — of law
  20. rash — hasty
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. pitch — completely
  23. rash — a series
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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