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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.

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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: snap · court · bat · prune · spell · cell · kick · bulb

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. bulb — for light
  4. court — of law
  5. spell — letters
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. snap — to click
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. prune — to trim
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. bulb — for light
  13. cell — in biology
  14. bat — the animal
  15. cell — a phone
  16. spell — a short time
  17. spell — magic
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. prune — to trim
  21. kick — in football
  22. court — of a king
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. court — for sport

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