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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: racket · cell · trunk · court · snap · bulb · capital · clip

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. cell — a phone
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. clip — for paper
  8. capital — a city
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. cell — in biology
  11. snap — to click
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. bulb — for light
  14. court — for sport
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. court — of law
  17. clip — a video
  18. capital — money
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. clip — to cut
  22. court — of a king
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. bulb — for light

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