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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 120 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 seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  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. clip — to cut
  2. fine — all right
  3. net — for catching
  4. fine — high quality
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. net — after costs
  7. clip — a video
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — an illness
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — moving air
  15. pound — a weight
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. clip — for paper
  21. net — in sport
  22. fork — in a road
  23. trunk — of a tree
  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