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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · calf · spring · march · current · wind · trunk · mine

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  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. spring — of water
  2. clip — for paper
  3. march — the month
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. clip — to cut
  6. march — music
  7. current — electric
  8. wind — moving air
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. spring — the season
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. mine — for digging
  13. wind — moving air
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. spring — a coil
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. current — of water
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. clip — a video
  22. march — the month
  23. current — happening now
  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