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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. lean — thin
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. wind — moving air
  6. craft — a skill
  7. craft — boats
  8. clip — a video
  9. fall — the season
  10. bound — certain
  11. clip — for paper
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. fall — to drop
  14. saw — the tool
  15. fall — to drop
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. bound — tied together
  18. saw — the tool
  19. clip — to cut
  20. lean — to bend
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. bound — obliged

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