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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  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. cap — a lid
  2. fall — to drop
  3. clip — for paper
  4. hand — help
  5. staff — a stick
  6. wind — moving air
  7. staff — employees
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. fall — to drop
  10. bark — to shout
  11. fall — the season
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. bank — for money
  14. clip — a video
  15. hand — in cards
  16. cap — a hat
  17. bank — for money
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. clip — to cut
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bank — of a river
  22. staff — employees
  23. cap — of ice
  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