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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: spring · wound · staff · land · court · press · leaves · roll

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. roll — a cake
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. court — of law
  5. land — to come down
  6. spring — a coil
  7. wound — an injury
  8. roll — a list
  9. spring — of water
  10. spring — the season
  11. court — for sport
  12. wound — an injury
  13. press — to push
  14. court — of a king
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. staff — employees
  17. land — ground
  18. staff — employees
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. land — a country
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. press — a publisher
  23. staff — a stick
  24. press — newspapers

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