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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. clip — for paper
  5. bound — certain
  6. chest — of your body
  7. object — an aim
  8. ball — a dance
  9. ball — a great time
  10. wind — moving air
  11. drill — the tool
  12. chest — of your body
  13. wind — moving air
  14. drill — army training
  15. chest — a box
  16. clip — to cut
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. clip — a video
  21. bound — tied together
  22. object — to protest
  23. bound — obliged
  24. drill — a practice

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