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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  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. season — of the year
  2. wind — moving air
  3. face — to point toward
  4. face — to confront
  5. mine — for digging
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. bank — of a river
  8. swing — in golf
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. wind — moving air
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. clip — for paper
  13. swing — to play on
  14. clip — to cut
  15. swing — music
  16. clip — a video
  17. bank — for money
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. season — in sport
  20. bank — for money
  21. face — part of the head
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. mine — an explosive
  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