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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 · cue · tear · ball · court · wave · hide · wound

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. cue — a hint
  3. cue — a signal
  4. court — of law
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cue — for pool
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. tear — from crying
  10. court — for sport
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. ball — a great time
  13. clip — to cut
  14. ball — a dance
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. court — of a king
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. wound — an injury
  20. tear — to rip
  21. clip — a video
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. tear — from crying
  24. clip — for paper

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