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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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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: swing · ball · court · clip · wound · kick · pass · cap

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. cap — a hat
  3. ball — a great time
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — to cut
  6. court — of law
  7. swing — music
  8. ball — a dance
  9. wound — an injury
  10. clip — for paper
  11. pass — a permit
  12. cap — a lid
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. wound — an injury
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. swing — in golf
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. court — for sport
  19. kick — in football
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. swing — to play on
  22. cap — of ice
  23. court — of a king
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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