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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
468
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 · cell · drill · spell · cue · clip · spring · pass

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. clip — to cut
  3. spell — letters
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. court — of a king
  7. court — for sport
  8. spring — of water
  9. cue — for pool
  10. pass — a permit
  11. spell — a short time
  12. drill — the tool
  13. clip — for paper
  14. drill — a practice
  15. court — of law
  16. cell — in biology
  17. clip — a video
  18. cell — a phone
  19. spring — the season
  20. drill — army training
  21. spring — a coil
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. cue — a signal
  24. spell — magic

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