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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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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: arm · fan · firm · clip · jam · cold · wind · spell

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — moving air
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. firm — steady
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. clip — to cut
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. firm — decided
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — an illness
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. spell — letters
  19. spell — a short time
  20. clip — for paper
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. clip — a video
  24. spell — magic

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