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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: bowl · leaves · wind · clip · bass · root · fall · cold

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. cold — an illness
  4. clip — a video
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. root — of a plant
  7. fall — the season
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. bass — low music
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — moving air
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. root — of a word
  17. root — the cause
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. clip — to cut
  20. bass — the fish
  21. clip — for paper
  22. fall — to drop
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. fall — to drop

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