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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: spring · bulb · press · pitcher · season · spell · clip · court

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. court — of a king
  3. spell — letters
  4. bulb — for light
  5. court — of law
  6. season — of the year
  7. clip — a video
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. spring — a coil
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. season — in sport
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. court — for sport
  15. press — newspapers
  16. spell — a short time
  17. press — a publisher
  18. clip — to cut
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. spring — of water
  21. clip — for paper
  22. spell — magic
  23. press — to push
  24. bulb — for light

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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