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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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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 · clip · tear · cell · foot · object · mine · arm

  1. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. mine — for digging
  5. clip — a video
  6. tear — to rip
  7. clip — to cut
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. court — of a king
  10. cell — a phone
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. object — an aim
  13. clip — for paper
  14. court — of law
  15. court — for sport
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. tear — from crying
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. foot — a measure
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. cell — in biology
  22. object — to protest
  23. tear — from crying
  24. arm — part of the body

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