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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 116 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: rule · spring · wind · hand · bay · pit · bore · clip

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. spring — a coil
  3. clip — to cut
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. pit — a hole
  6. bore — to tire
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. rule — government
  9. spring — the season
  10. hand — in cards
  11. pit — in a race
  12. clip — for paper
  13. hand — help
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. rule — a law
  19. bore — to drill
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. wind — moving air
  22. spring — of water
  23. clip — a video
  24. rule — to rule out

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