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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: clip · pound · chair · court · fall · season · trunk · capital

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. capital — money
  3. clip — for paper
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. fall — the season
  6. clip — to cut
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. court — of a king
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. season — in sport
  12. capital — a city
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. chair — a leader
  15. court — for sport
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. clip — a video
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. pound — a weight
  20. court — of law
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — to drop
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. season — of the year

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