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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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Word bank
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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: cold · mark · wax · bulb · arm · clip · wind · bound

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. wind — moving air
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bound — obliged
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. bound — tied together
  11. cold — not warm
  12. clip — for paper
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. wax — to grow
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. mark — a trace
  21. clip — a video
  22. mark — a grade
  23. bound — certain
  24. bulb — for light

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