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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: coach · branch · wound · clip · bowl · court · land · pit

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. land — to come down
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. court — of law
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. pit — in a race
  11. land — a country
  12. court — of a king
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. wound — an injury
  15. land — ground
  16. court — for sport
  17. pit — a hole
  18. wound — an injury
  19. clip — to cut
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — for paper
  23. branch — a division
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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