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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: clip · bore · wind · ground · cell · face · lean · craft

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. clip — a video
  6. face — part of the head
  7. cell — a phone
  8. clip — for paper
  9. wind — moving air
  10. lean — to bend
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. ground — the earth
  13. craft — a skill
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. bore — to drill
  16. wind — moving air
  17. lean — thin
  18. ground — crushed
  19. ground — a position
  20. face — to point toward
  21. clip — to cut
  22. face — to confront
  23. cell — in biology
  24. craft — boats

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