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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: bark · tear · mine · clip · court · present · pit · stand

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. tear — from crying
  4. mine — for digging
  5. pit — in a race
  6. stand — to bear
  7. clip — for paper
  8. present — there
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. bark — to shout
  11. clip — to cut
  12. present — the time now
  13. court — of law
  14. court — for sport
  15. clip — a video
  16. pit — a hole
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. tear — to rip
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. court — of a king
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. present — a gift
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. tear — from crying

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