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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. clip — for paper
  5. bass — low music
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. wind — moving air
  8. bass — the fish
  9. fork — in a road
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. clip — to cut
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. hand — in cards
  14. chair — a leader
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. race — the arms race
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. race — humankind
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. race — a contest
  22. clip — a video
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. hand — help

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