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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: degree · mug · bound · clip · lash · wind · coach · spring

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. wind — moving air
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. spring — a coil
  5. degree — temperature
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. mug — a cup
  8. mug — a face
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. degree — from a university
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bound — tied together
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bound — certain
  16. mug — to rob
  17. clip — a video
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. spring — the season
  20. degree — an amount
  21. spring — of water
  22. clip — for paper
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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