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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: hand · stem · season · arm · object · clip · band · spring

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. band — a ring
  3. clip — a video
  4. stem — to come from
  5. object — a thing
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. object — to protest
  9. clip — for paper
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. season — of the year
  12. spring — a coil
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. band — a music group
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. object — an aim
  18. season — in sport
  19. clip — to cut
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. spring — the season
  22. hand — help
  23. hand — in cards
  24. season — to add flavour

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