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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: court · ground · club · fan · tube · land · stem · snap

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. ground — crushed
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. stem — to come from
  5. tube — the underground
  6. tube — a container
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. court — of law
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. club — for dancing
  13. snap — to click
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. ground — a position
  17. court — for sport
  18. club — for golf
  19. land — ground
  20. ground — the earth
  21. court — of a king
  22. land — a country
  23. club — a group
  24. land — to come down

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