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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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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: clip · sharp · ball · wound · trunk · track · court · rule

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. track — a song
  3. clip — for paper
  4. court — for sport
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. clip — to cut
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. track — a path
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. track — to keep track
  12. rule — government
  13. sharp — clever
  14. ball — a great time
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. clip — a video
  18. rule — a law
  19. wound — an injury
  20. court — of law
  21. court — of a king
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. ball — a dance
  24. wound — an injury

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