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

Word bank: toast · wind · lean · clip · cold · mouse

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. clip — to cut
  5. lean — thin
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. wind — moving air
  8. cold — an illness
  9. toast — bread
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. cold — not warm
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. lean — to bend
  16. clip — a video
  17. wind — moving air
  18. 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