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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: ball · suit · court · kid · sharp · clip · leaves · band

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  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. court — of a king
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. suit — to fit
  4. ball — a dance
  5. band — a music group
  6. clip — to cut
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. suit — clothes
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. sharp — clever
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. kid — child
  15. court — of law
  16. kid — to tease
  17. band — a ring
  18. ball — a great time
  19. suit — in cards
  20. clip — for paper
  21. court — for sport
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. ball — a round shape
  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