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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 116 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: court · ball · fine · clip · lie · bark · bear · pitcher

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. court — of law
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. clip — to cut
  5. ball — a dance
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. lie — to recline
  8. court — of a king
  9. court — for sport
  10. fine — high quality
  11. bark — to shout
  12. fine — all right
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. clip — a video
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. bear — the animal
  23. bear — the animal
  24. ball — a great time

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