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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: wound · date · court · clip · chip · pit · temple · tube

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — a video
  3. chip — for betting
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. court — of law
  6. pit — in a race
  7. pit — a hole
  8. tube — a container
  9. court — for sport
  10. wound — an injury
  11. date — the fruit
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. wound — an injury
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. chip — to eat
  18. court — of a king
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. tube — the underground
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. clip — to cut

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