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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · spring · roll · straw · tube · net · leaves · suit

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. suit — in cards
  4. tube — the underground
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. spring — a coil
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. roll — a cake
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. spring — the season
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. spring — of water
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. court — of law
  16. net — in sport
  17. suit — clothes
  18. court — of a king
  19. roll — a list
  20. net — for catching
  21. tube — a container
  22. court — for sport
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. suit — to fit

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