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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.

Make a worksheet

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
468
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: rest · bound · wind · rush · bark · clip · mine · row

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. wind — moving air
  3. rest — what's left
  4. bound — certain
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. bark — to shout
  7. mine — for digging
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. rest — what's left
  14. clip — to cut
  15. rush — hurry
  16. row — a line
  17. bound — tied together
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — for paper
  22. bound — obliged
  23. row — to paddle
  24. rush — to hurry

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