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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 120 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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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: hand · clip · fine · chest · court · mouse · bound · branch

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. fine — all right
  3. bound — obliged
  4. court — of law
  5. bound — certain
  6. fine — high quality
  7. chest — a box
  8. hand — help
  9. court — of a king
  10. chest — of your body
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. clip — a video
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. clip — to cut
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. hand — in cards
  18. chest — of your body
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. court — for sport
  22. bound — tied together
  23. clip — for paper
  24. branch — a division

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