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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: pound · swing · degree · hide · wax · spell · wind · clip

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. clip — to cut
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. swing — music
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. wax — to grow
  7. spell — a short time
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. degree — from a university
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. swing — in golf
  12. swing — to play on
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. clip — a video
  15. spell — letters
  16. clip — for paper
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. pound — a weight
  19. degree — temperature
  20. degree — an amount
  21. wind — moving air
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. spell — magic
  24. wax — for sculpting

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