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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: capital · clip · leaves · bank · hand · chair · wind · season

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. clip — a video
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. hand — in cards
  6. clip — to cut
  7. wind — moving air
  8. bank — of a river
  9. season — of the year
  10. hand — help
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. clip — for paper
  13. season — in sport
  14. capital — a city
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. bank — for money
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. wind — moving air
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. capital — money
  21. chair — a leader
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. bank — for money

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