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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: rash · ground · clip · sharp · trunk · branch · bass · court

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. ground — a position
  3. clip — a video
  4. branch — a division
  5. clip — to cut
  6. court — of law
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — crushed
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. court — for sport
  14. clip — for paper
  15. rash — hasty
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. bass — the fish
  20. bass — low music
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. rash — a series
  24. court — of a king

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