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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: drill · snap · mug · branch · court · clip · stock · spring

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. drill — the tool
  4. mug — a face
  5. mug — a cup
  6. spring — the season
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — to cut
  9. drill — a practice
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. clip — for paper
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. court — of a king
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. court — of law
  16. stock — goods
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. branch — a division
  19. court — for sport
  20. spring — of water
  21. stock — shares
  22. drill — army training
  23. mug — to rob
  24. snap — to click

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