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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 · vault · branch · bear · staff · fall · content · clip

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fall — to drop
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. staff — employees
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. content — the amount
  7. clip — a video
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. court — of law
  10. staff — a stick
  11. fall — the season
  12. branch — a division
  13. court — of a king
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. staff — employees
  16. clip — to cut
  17. vault — a safe
  18. bear — the animal
  19. content — happy
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. court — for sport
  24. clip — for paper

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