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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. clip — to cut
  3. bark — to shout
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. ball — a great time
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. net — after costs
  9. season — in sport
  10. net — for catching
  11. ball — a dance
  12. wind — moving air
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. clip — a video
  15. season — of the year
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. net — in sport
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. file — a tool
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a line of people

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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