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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 116 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 · lean · spring · swing · cabinet · fan · bound · degree

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. swing — to play on
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. spring — of water
  8. clip — a video
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. degree — from a university
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — an amount
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. bound — certain
  16. lean — thin
  17. spring — the season
  18. swing — music
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — for paper
  21. swing — in golf
  22. lean — to bend
  23. bound — tied together
  24. spring — a coil

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