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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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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: field · club · wave · ruler · wind · clip · content · court

  1. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. club — a group
  4. content — the amount
  5. field — a subject
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — moving air
  10. court — of a king
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. field — farmland
  13. club — for dancing
  14. content — happy
  15. club — for golf
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — for paper
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. court — of law
  20. court — for sport
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. clip — to cut
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. field — for sport

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