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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
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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 · leaves · court · lean · fan · drill · tube · land

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. tube — a container
  4. land — to come down
  5. drill — army training
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. court — of a king
  9. land — a country
  10. clip — to cut
  11. land — ground
  12. drill — a practice
  13. lean — to bend
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. lean — thin
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. tube — the underground
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — a video
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. drill — the tool
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. court — of law
  24. fan — a supporter

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