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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 · cell · ground · leaves · bound · trunk · wind · swing

  1. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. ground — the earth
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. clip — for paper
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. swing — music
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. wind — moving air
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bound — certain
  11. ground — a position
  12. swing — to play on
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — to cut
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. ground — crushed
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cell — a phone
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. bound — obliged
  23. bound — tied together
  24. wind — moving air

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