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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.

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: key · bat · press · court · content · clip · hand · straw

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — to cut
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. hand — in cards
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. court — of law
  10. key — for a lock
  11. court — of a king
  12. bat — the animal
  13. hand — help
  14. clip — a video
  15. content — happy
  16. key — in music
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. court — for sport
  19. press — newspapers
  20. press — a publisher
  21. press — to push
  22. key — the most important part
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. content — the amount

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