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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.

Make a worksheet

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: bass · wind · clip · last · leaves · mug · rule · capital

  1. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bass — the fish
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. mug — a cup
  8. bass — low music
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — a city
  12. clip — to cut
  13. rule — government
  14. clip — for paper
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. capital — money
  17. mug — a face
  18. last — final
  19. clip — a video
  20. rule — a law
  21. last — finally
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. last — to go on
  24. wind — moving air

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