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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: rest · bass · craft · rule · clip · nail · wind · bank

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. craft — boats
  3. bass — low music
  4. bass — the fish
  5. wind — moving air
  6. rule — government
  7. bank — for money
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. rule — a law
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. clip — to cut
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. bank — for money
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. rest — a break
  19. clip — a video
  20. rest — what's left
  21. craft — a skill
  22. bank — of a river
  23. rest — what's left
  24. wind — moving air

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