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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: clip · wind · game · ground · deal · straw · rock · leaves

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. deal — to handle
  3. rock — music
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. clip — for paper
  6. ground — crushed
  7. wind — moving air
  8. game — wild animals
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. ground — the earth
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. wind — moving air
  15. ground — a position
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. game — a match
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. clip — a video
  23. rock — a stone
  24. leaves — of a tree

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