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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 116 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: wind · content · season · lie · club · clip · trunk · march

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. clip — to cut
  3. season — of the year
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. content — happy
  7. wind — moving air
  8. club — for golf
  9. clip — a video
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. march — the month
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. lie — to recline
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. march — the month
  16. march — music
  17. club — a group
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. content — the amount
  20. wind — moving air
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. club — for dancing
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. clip — for paper

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