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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: clip · court · game · spring · trunk · mate · season · file

  1. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. spring — the season
  4. court — for sport
  5. spring — of water
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. file — a line of people
  10. game — wild animals
  11. clip — for paper
  12. mate — a partner
  13. season — in sport
  14. game — a match
  15. clip — a video
  16. mate — a friend
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. court — of a king
  19. court — of law
  20. clip — to cut
  21. file — a tool
  22. spring — a coil
  23. season — of the year
  24. mate — to breed

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