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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: spring · bound · cell · court · capital · spell · craft · snap

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. craft — a skill
  3. cell — a phone
  4. court — of law
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. cell — in biology
  8. capital — a city
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. spell — magic
  11. spring — of water
  12. craft — boats
  13. snap — to click
  14. spring — the season
  15. bound — obliged
  16. capital — money
  17. bound — certain
  18. bound — tied together
  19. spell — letters
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. court — for sport
  22. spring — a coil
  23. court — of a king
  24. capital — a big letter

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