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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: wind · kick · chest · squash · current · leaves · bound · clip

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  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. chest — of your body
  2. current — happening now
  3. clip — for paper
  4. chest — of your body
  5. current — electric
  6. clip — a video
  7. bound — obliged
  8. kick — in football
  9. squash — to crush
  10. squash — the sport
  11. bound — certain
  12. chest — a box
  13. current — of water
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. wind — moving air
  17. clip — to cut
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bound — tied together
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. leaves — lets stay
  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