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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.

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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: court · net · race · squash · leaves · clip · bank · band

  1. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  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. leaves — lets stay
  2. clip — a video
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. net — for catching
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. band — a ring
  7. clip — for paper
  8. net — after costs
  9. band — a music group
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. race — the arms race
  12. bank — for money
  13. net — in sport
  14. court — of law
  15. bank — for money
  16. race — humankind
  17. race — a contest
  18. squash — the sport
  19. court — of a king
  20. bank — of a river
  21. squash — to crush
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. court — for sport
  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