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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: date · wave · chair · clip · arm · ground · court · club

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. clip — to cut
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. club — a group
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. chair — a leader
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. clip — for paper
  10. club — for dancing
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. ground — the earth
  13. ground — a position
  14. ground — crushed
  15. date — the fruit
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. club — for golf
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. court — of a king
  22. court — of law
  23. clip — a video
  24. court — for sport

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