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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: net · wound · spring · leaves · capital · clip · chip · present

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. wound — an injury
  3. spring — of water
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. net — after costs
  6. spring — a coil
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. wound — an injury
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — to cut
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. chip — to eat
  13. spring — the season
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. present — there
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — money
  19. present — the time now
  20. clip — a video
  21. chip — for betting
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. present — a gift
  24. net — in sport

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