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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: deal · staff · present · spring · clip · wind

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. clip — to cut
  3. present — a gift
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. spring — a coil
  7. clip — for paper
  8. spring — of water
  9. staff — a stick
  10. present — the time now
  11. staff — employees
  12. deal — to handle
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. staff — employees
  15. spring — the season
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. present — there

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