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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: prune · court · key · stick · net · spell · clip · arm

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of a king
  5. net — for catching
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — a video
  8. spell — letters
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. spell — magic
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — to trim
  13. spell — a short time
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. key — in music
  17. key — for a lock
  18. net — after costs
  19. key — the most important part
  20. clip — to cut
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. court — of law
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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