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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 116 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: wind · tear · suit · clip · bark · plane · ground · band

  1. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. suit — clothes
  2. tear — from crying
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. tear — from crying
  5. band — a ring
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. ground — the earth
  8. ground — a position
  9. wind — moving air
  10. tear — to rip
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. suit — in cards
  13. ground — crushed
  14. bark — to shout
  15. plane — a tool
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — for paper
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. wind — moving air
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. band — a music group
  24. suit — to fit

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