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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: clip · straw · bank · lean · foot · spring · hand · chip

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. bank — for money
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. spring — of water
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. spring — a coil
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. lean — thin
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. clip — a video
  13. hand — help
  14. foot — a measure
  15. clip — to cut
  16. bank — for money
  17. hand — in cards
  18. clip — for paper
  19. chip — to eat
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. spring — the season
  23. chip — for betting
  24. bank — of a river

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