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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: clip · staff · cue · fine · chest · sharp · file · spring

  1. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. clip — a video
  3. fine — all right
  4. spring — the season
  5. file — a line of people
  6. cue — a hint
  7. clip — for paper
  8. chest — of your body
  9. spring — a coil
  10. staff — a stick
  11. chest — of your body
  12. cue — a signal
  13. staff — employees
  14. fine — high quality
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. file — a document
  17. clip — to cut
  18. sharp — clever
  19. chest — a box
  20. spring — of water
  21. file — a tool
  22. staff — employees
  23. cue — for pool
  24. sharp — with an edge

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