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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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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: spring · wind · fine · root · staff · clip · bank · wake

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. staff — employees
  3. bank — for money
  4. spring — of water
  5. bank — for money
  6. spring — a coil
  7. wake — a trail
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — moving air
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. fine — all right
  12. clip — to cut
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. staff — a stick
  15. bank — of a river
  16. fine — high quality
  17. root — of a word
  18. staff — employees
  19. root — of a plant
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. root — the cause
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. clip — a video
  24. clip — for paper

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