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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. clip — a video
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. face — to confront
  7. wind — moving air
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. hand — help
  10. clip — to cut
  11. hand — in cards
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. wind — moving air
  14. face — part of the head
  15. wound — an injury
  16. clip — for paper
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. face — to point toward

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