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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.

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: leaves · cell · clip · net · trunk · court · bass · row

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  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 — of law
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. cell — a phone
  5. net — for catching
  6. row — to paddle
  7. court — of a king
  8. net — after costs
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. bass — low music
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. net — in sport
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. clip — to cut
  15. court — for sport
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. cell — in biology
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. clip — for paper
  20. row — a line
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. bass — the fish
  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