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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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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: wound · court · cue · leaves · press · hand · snap · spring

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. press — a publisher
  4. cue — a hint
  5. spring — the season
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. press — to push
  8. spring — of water
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. court — of law
  12. cue — for pool
  13. snap — to click
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. cue — a signal
  16. hand — in cards
  17. spring — a coil
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. court — for sport
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. press — newspapers
  22. wound — an injury
  23. hand — help
  24. court — of a king

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