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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 · roll · last · mark · rash · bound · deal · court

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. last — to go on
  3. bound — tied together
  4. roll — a cake
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. bound — obliged
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. roll — a list
  9. mark — a trace
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. rash — hasty
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. mark — a grade
  15. court — of law
  16. last — finally
  17. rash — a series
  18. court — for sport
  19. clip — to cut
  20. bound — certain
  21. clip — for paper
  22. last — final
  23. clip — a video
  24. deal — to handle

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