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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.

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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: chip · wind · leaves · bulb · bark · band · clip · bat

  1. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. bulb — for light
  3. band — a ring
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. clip — a video
  10. chip — for betting
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. clip — to cut
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. wind — moving air
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. wind — moving air
  17. band — a music group
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. chip — to eat
  21. clip — for paper
  22. bark — to shout
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — for baseball

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