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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.

Make a worksheet

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: clip · coach · board · court · stick · spell · degree · march

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. march — the month
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. degree — from a university
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. board — to get on
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. clip — for paper
  10. spell — letters
  11. court — of a king
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. march — the month
  14. spell — magic
  15. court — for sport
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. court — of law
  18. spell — a short time
  19. board — a committee
  20. clip — a video
  21. degree — temperature
  22. clip — to cut
  23. degree — an amount
  24. march — music

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