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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: bound · clip · wax · wind · shower · deal · season · bore

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. wax — to grow
  3. wind — moving air
  4. season — in sport
  5. bore — to tire
  6. shower — to wash
  7. clip — for paper
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. bore — to drill
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. clip — a video
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bound — tied together
  16. deal — to handle
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. bound — certain
  19. shower — rain
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. clip — to cut
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. season — of the year

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