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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: ground · arm · wind · craft · swing · bank · clip · spring

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. swing — to play on
  3. spring — of water
  4. bank — for money
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. bank — for money
  7. swing — music
  8. bank — of a river
  9. ground — the earth
  10. spring — a coil
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. clip — to cut
  13. craft — a skill
  14. ground — crushed
  15. wind — moving air
  16. clip — for paper
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. swing — in golf
  19. ground — a position
  20. clip — a video
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. spring — the season
  23. wind — moving air
  24. craft — boats

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