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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: cap · chest · fork · clip · wind · leaves · season · saw

  1. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — to cut
  4. chest — of your body
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. cap — of ice
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. clip — for paper
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. cap — a hat
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. chest — a box
  15. fork — in a road
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. season — of the year
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. season — in sport
  20. cap — a lid
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. chest — of your body
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. saw — the tool

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