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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: mark · arm · court · racket · clip · field · land · branch

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. land — to come down
  3. mark — a grade
  4. clip — to cut
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. branch — a division
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. land — ground
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — for sport
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. clip — for paper
  15. court — of a king
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. mark — a trace
  18. land — a country
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. court — of law
  22. field — farmland
  23. court — for sport
  24. arm — a part of something

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