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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 · cue · fan · degree · foot · spring · chest · land

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. cue — a signal
  4. spring — a coil
  5. degree — temperature
  6. clip — a video
  7. land — a country
  8. degree — from a university
  9. spring — of water
  10. clip — to cut
  11. foot — a measure
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. chest — of your body
  14. spring — the season
  15. chest — a box
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. cue — for pool
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. chest — of your body
  20. land — to come down
  21. degree — an amount
  22. land — ground
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. clip — for paper

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