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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: clip · firm · stock · club · wound · wave · content · wind

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. stock — shares
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. club — a group
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. club — for golf
  8. firm — a company
  9. clip — for paper
  10. club — for dancing
  11. clip — to cut
  12. wind — moving air
  13. clip — a video
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. content — happy
  16. wound — an injury
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. stock — goods
  21. firm — steady
  22. content — the amount
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. firm — decided

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