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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 was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. clip — to cut
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. wind — moving air
  5. mine — for digging
  6. lean — thin
  7. race — humankind
  8. race — a contest
  9. rest — what's left
  10. rest — what's left
  11. clip — a video
  12. lean — to bend
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. rest — a break
  16. club — for dancing
  17. club — for golf
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. club — a group
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. race — the arms race
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. clip — for paper

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