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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: stick · land · spring · tear · snap · sharp · staff · court

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. spring — the season
  5. tear — to rip
  6. land — a country
  7. staff — employees
  8. court — of law
  9. tear — from crying
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. court — of a king
  12. staff — employees
  13. land — to come down
  14. spring — a coil
  15. sharp — clever
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. staff — a stick
  20. tear — from crying
  21. snap — to click
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. land — ground
  24. court — for sport

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