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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  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. wind — moving air
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. bass — low music
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. mine — for digging
  9. clip — to cut
  10. wind — moving air
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — for paper
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. wax — to grow
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. stand — to bear
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. branch — a division
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. bass — the fish
  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