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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: face · spell · ground · wind · content · trunk · pitch · clip

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. content — happy
  3. wind — moving air
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — a video
  7. ground — the earth
  8. spell — letters
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. clip — to cut
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. wind — moving air
  14. content — the amount
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. face — to point toward
  17. pitch — completely
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. ground — a position
  20. face — to confront
  21. spell — a short time
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. spell — magic
  24. ground — crushed

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