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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.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. band — a music group
  3. clip — to cut
  4. content — the amount
  5. squash — to crush
  6. craft — a skill
  7. content — happy
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. spring — the season
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. band — a ring
  12. craft — boats
  13. clip — for paper
  14. squash — the sport
  15. spring — a coil
  16. clip — a video
  17. spring — of water
  18. content — videos and posts

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