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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · leaves · calf · ground · clip · track · wound · perch

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. track — a path
  3. ground — a position
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. ground — crushed
  6. wind — moving air
  7. ground — the earth
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. wound — an injury
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. track — to keep track
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. perch — the fish
  19. wind — moving air
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — to cut
  22. wound — an injury
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. track — a song

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