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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: clip · lash · court · cap · rest · content · bound · coach

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. cap — a hat
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. rest — a break
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. court — of a king
  8. content — the amount
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. rest — what's left
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. court — for sport
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. clip — for paper
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. bound — obliged
  17. bound — certain
  18. cap — a lid
  19. cap — of ice
  20. clip — to cut
  21. bound — tied together
  22. content — happy
  23. court — of law
  24. clip — a video

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