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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 · stem · staff · spring · clip · wound · arm · toast

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. spring — the season
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. wound — an injury
  5. staff — a stick
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. clip — for paper
  8. stem — to come from
  9. court — of law
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. staff — employees
  13. toast — bread
  14. spring — of water
  15. clip — a video
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. clip — to cut
  18. spring — a coil
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. court — for sport
  23. wound — an injury
  24. court — of a king

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