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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: rock · arm · shower · court · clip · calf · pit · content

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. clip — for paper
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. rock — a stone
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. court — of law
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. court — for sport
  9. content — the amount
  10. clip — to cut
  11. content — happy
  12. rock — music
  13. shower — to wash
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. pit — in a race
  20. pit — a hole
  21. court — of a king
  22. clip — a video
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. shower — rain

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