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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: cell · court · clip · object · lean · pound · current · land

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. object — an aim
  3. current — happening now
  4. court — for sport
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. current — electric
  7. object — to protest
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. cell — a phone
  10. clip — for paper
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. current — of water
  13. land — ground
  14. pound — a weight
  15. land — a country
  16. object — a thing
  17. lean — thin
  18. land — to come down
  19. court — of law
  20. court — of a king
  21. cell — in biology
  22. clip — to cut
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. lean — to bend

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