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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. court — of law
  3. land — to come down
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. clip — to cut
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. spring — the season
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. clip — a video
  12. plane — a tool
  13. land — a country
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. spring — of water
  16. land — ground
  17. snap — to click
  18. court — of a king
  19. wax — to grow
  20. court — for sport
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. spring — a coil

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