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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
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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: wound · pound · mark · court · rash · spring · present · clip

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. court — of law
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. clip — for paper
  5. spring — of water
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. court — for sport
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. present — there
  10. rash — hasty
  11. present — the time now
  12. wound — an injury
  13. pound — a weight
  14. clip — to cut
  15. rash — a series
  16. wound — an injury
  17. spring — a coil
  18. court — of a king
  19. mark — a grade
  20. present — a gift
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. mark — a trace
  23. clip — a video
  24. spring — the season

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