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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: spring · hand · trunk · clip · race · arm · fine · firm

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. firm — decided
  3. clip — for paper
  4. firm — steady
  5. fine — high quality
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. race — a contest
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. spring — a coil
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. spring — of water
  13. clip — to cut
  14. spring — the season
  15. race — the arms race
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. fine — all right
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. race — humankind
  22. hand — in cards
  23. firm — a company
  24. clip — a video

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