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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 120 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 · pop · clip · leaves · plane · fork · capital · court

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. pop — to visit
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. court — of a king
  5. capital — a city
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. capital — money
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. fork — in a road
  11. pop — music
  12. court — of law
  13. plane — a tool
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. clip — for paper
  16. pop — soda
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. clip — to cut
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. court — for sport
  24. clip — a video

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