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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: clip · drill · content · current · pitch · rock · net · court

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  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. pitch — a sports field
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. drill — army training
  5. net — after costs
  6. current — happening now
  7. clip — for paper
  8. current — of water
  9. court — of law
  10. net — for catching
  11. rock — music
  12. drill — a practice
  13. net — in sport
  14. content — happy
  15. clip — to cut
  16. court — for sport
  17. rock — a stone
  18. content — the amount
  19. drill — the tool
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. current — electric
  22. pitch — completely
  23. rock — to move gently
  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