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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 120 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 · bank · net · tube · clip · capital · file · arm

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. file — a tool
  3. spring — a coil
  4. tube — the underground
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. clip — for paper
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — of water
  10. tube — a container
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. net — after costs
  13. file — a document
  14. capital — a city
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bank — for money
  20. file — a line of people
  21. clip — a video
  22. net — for catching
  23. bank — of a river
  24. bank — for money

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