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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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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 · wave · swing · perch · plane · tear · kick · clip

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. kick — in football
  3. clip — for paper
  4. tear — to rip
  5. clip — to cut
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. plane — a tool
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. court — of law
  12. perch — the fish
  13. swing — music
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. tear — from crying
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. swing — to play on
  20. court — of a king
  21. swing — in golf
  22. tear — from crying
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. clip — a video

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