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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — for paper
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. wind — moving air
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. scale — in music
  14. scale — size or range
  15. clip — a video
  16. wind — moving air
  17. rash — a series
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. wake — a trail
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. rash — hasty
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. scale — for weighing

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