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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: content · clip · chip · wind · leaves · fall · net · wake

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. fall — to drop
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — moving air
  5. clip — to cut
  6. chip — to eat
  7. fall — to drop
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. content — happy
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. net — in sport
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — for paper
  16. content — the amount
  17. net — for catching
  18. fall — the season
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. chip — for betting
  21. wake — a trail
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. net — after costs

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