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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: fan · clip · tube · firm · sharp · present · foot · cold

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. cold — an illness
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — to cut
  6. present — the time now
  7. foot — a measure
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. present — there
  14. clip — for paper
  15. present — a gift
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. cold — not warm
  18. tube — the underground
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. firm — a company
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. sharp — clever
  23. tube — a container
  24. firm — decided

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