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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: season · scale · bore · bound · last · clip · bulb · wind

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. last — to go on
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — a video
  7. last — final
  8. bound — tied together
  9. season — in sport
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bound — certain
  12. scale — in music
  13. scale — size or range
  14. last — finally
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. bulb — for light
  17. bound — obliged
  18. season — of the year
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. bore — to drill
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. bore — to tire

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