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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: game · spring · clip · fine · cabinet · wax · pound · deal

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. game — wild animals
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. fine — all right
  9. clip — a video
  10. deal — to handle
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. clip — to cut
  13. spring — the season
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. game — a match
  16. fine — high quality
  17. wax — to grow
  18. pound — a weight
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. spring — a coil
  23. spring — of water
  24. cabinet — ministers

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