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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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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 · cell · stick · court · bound · trunk · scale · bear

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. court — of a king
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. clip — for paper
  8. cell — a phone
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. bound — certain
  11. bound — tied together
  12. bound — obliged
  13. scale — in music
  14. clip — to cut
  15. court — for sport
  16. bear — the animal
  17. cell — in biology
  18. clip — a video
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. court — of law
  21. bear — the animal
  22. scale — size or range
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. trunk — of a tree

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