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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wind · hand · rash · fine · land · bank · tear · clip

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. clip — a video
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. tear — from crying
  5. hand — in cards
  6. land — to come down
  7. land — ground
  8. fine — all right
  9. fine — high quality
  10. tear — from crying
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. bank — for money
  13. bank — of a river
  14. land — a country
  15. clip — to cut
  16. rash — a series
  17. clip — for paper
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — moving air
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. bank — for money
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. rash — hasty
  24. tear — to rip

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