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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  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. tube — the underground
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. court — of a king
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. bank — for money
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. clip — a video
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. bank — for money
  13. object — a thing
  14. object — to protest
  15. court — of law
  16. cold — not warm
  17. court — for sport
  18. clip — to cut
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bank — of a river
  21. wind — moving air
  22. tube — a container
  23. object — an aim
  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