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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.

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: spring · wind · bat · rash · clip · hide · club · pop

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. club — for golf
  6. spring — a coil
  7. spring — the season
  8. pop — soda
  9. spring — of water
  10. rash — a series
  11. wind — moving air
  12. clip — a video
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. pop — to visit
  15. rash — hasty
  16. club — a group
  17. bat — the animal
  18. pop — music
  19. clip — for paper
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. clip — to cut
  22. club — for dancing
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. rash — on the skin

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