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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: foot · cabinet · hand · court · dip · bark · clip · net

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. clip — a video
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. court — of a king
  5. net — in sport
  6. bark — to shout
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. court — of law
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. hand — in cards
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. dip — to sink
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. clip — for paper
  17. net — for catching
  18. hand — help
  19. net — after costs
  20. clip — to cut
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. court — for sport
  24. cabinet — ministers

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