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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: content · hand · spring · clip · fan · bank · sharp · cap

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. bank — for money
  4. cap — of ice
  5. content — happy
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. bank — of a river
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. clip — to cut
  11. cap — a hat
  12. spring — of water
  13. hand — help
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. cap — a lid
  16. bank — for money
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. clip — for paper
  19. spring — the season
  20. sharp — clever
  21. hand — in cards
  22. spring — a coil
  23. clip — a video
  24. content — the amount

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