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

Word bank: present · land · wind · clip · wave · chair

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. land — to come down
  3. land — ground
  4. clip — a video
  5. chair — a leader
  6. wind — moving air
  7. clip — to cut
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. land — a country
  12. present — the time now
  13. wind — moving air
  14. clip — for paper
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. present — a gift
  18. chair — a professorship

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