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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. season — of the year
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. bound — obliged
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. pop — to visit
  8. shower — to wash
  9. bound — tied together
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. shower — rain
  12. bound — certain
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. clip — for paper
  15. pass — a permit
  16. season — in sport
  17. pop — music
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. clip — a video
  20. wind — moving air
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. clip — to cut
  23. pop — soda
  24. wind — to turn a key

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