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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: wind · scale · clip · hide · wave · mate · shower · content

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. mate — to breed
  4. wind — moving air
  5. mate — a friend
  6. clip — a video
  7. content — happy
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. scale — size or range
  11. shower — to wash
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. clip — to cut
  15. mate — a partner
  16. clip — for paper
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. content — the amount
  19. wind — moving air
  20. shower — rain
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. scale — in music

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