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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.

Make a worksheet

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: wind · rest · clip · last · charge · hand

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. clip — for paper
  4. rest — what's left
  5. last — to go on
  6. clip — a video
  7. hand — help
  8. charge — electricity
  9. charge — in control
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. last — finally
  12. rest — a break
  13. wind — moving air
  14. hand — in cards
  15. rest — what's left
  16. last — final
  17. charge — a price
  18. clip — to cut

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