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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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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 · fall · bound · deal · fan · hand · pound · clip

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fall — the season
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. wind — moving air
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. hand — help
  8. pound — a weight
  9. hand — in cards
  10. clip — to cut
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. fall — to drop
  13. bound — obliged
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. deal — to handle
  17. wind — moving air
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — a video
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. bound — certain
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. fall — to drop
  24. bound — tied together

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