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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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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. wind — moving air
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. club — for dancing
  5. stand — to bear
  6. club — for golf
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — for paper
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. kick — in football
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. club — a group
  16. clip — to cut
  17. craft — a skill
  18. stand — for spectators

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