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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: wind · rock · clip · swing · cold · firm · fork · bear

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. rock — a stone
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. firm — steady
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. clip — a video
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bear — the animal
  10. clip — for paper
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — an illness
  13. rock — music
  14. swing — to play on
  15. wind — moving air
  16. swing — in golf
  17. swing — music
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. fork — in a road
  21. firm — decided
  22. firm — a company
  23. bear — the animal
  24. clip — to cut

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