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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: trunk · cap · last · wind · game · bulb · lash · clip

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. last — to go on
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cap — a lid
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. last — final
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. cap — of ice
  10. game — wild animals
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. clip — a video
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. wind — moving air
  15. game — a match
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. cap — a hat
  18. clip — for paper
  19. last — finally
  20. bulb — for light
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. bulb — for light
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. wind — to turn a key

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