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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 · mate · snap · bank · mine · prune · bat · clip

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. mate — a friend
  3. mine — for digging
  4. court — of a king
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bat — the animal
  7. clip — to cut
  8. prune — to trim
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bank — for money
  13. bank — for money
  14. clip — a video
  15. mate — to breed
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. bank — of a river
  20. mate — a partner
  21. court — of law
  22. snap — to click
  23. clip — for paper
  24. mine — belonging to me

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