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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: firm · row · content · bore · clip · court · wake · arm

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. content — happy
  5. clip — to cut
  6. court — of a king
  7. wake — a trail
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. firm — decided
  10. clip — for paper
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. row — to paddle
  13. bore — to tire
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. court — for sport
  17. firm — steady
  18. court — of law
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. clip — a video
  21. content — the amount
  22. bore — to drill
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. firm — a company

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