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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: tube · clip · spring · land · snap · court · spell · club

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. spell — a short time
  3. court — of law
  4. clip — for paper
  5. spring — a coil
  6. land — ground
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. land — to come down
  9. spring — the season
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. tube — the underground
  13. club — for golf
  14. tube — a container
  15. clip — a video
  16. spell — magic
  17. club — a group
  18. spring — of water
  19. club — for dancing
  20. court — for sport
  21. land — a country
  22. snap — to click
  23. spell — letters
  24. clip — to cut

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