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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. prune — to trim
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. clip — a video
  5. hand — help
  6. clip — to cut
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. hand — in cards
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. clip — for paper
  15. wake — a trail
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. prune — to trim
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. fan — a supporter

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