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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 116 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 · cell · pop · prune · current · content · race · court

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. pop — music
  3. current — happening now
  4. race — humankind
  5. race — a contest
  6. content — the amount
  7. race — the arms race
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. cell — a phone
  10. court — for sport
  11. current — electric
  12. cell — in biology
  13. clip — a video
  14. current — of water
  15. court — of law
  16. content — happy
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — to trim
  19. pop — to visit
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. pop — soda
  23. clip — for paper
  24. clip — to cut

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