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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. band — a ring
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. clip — for paper
  5. row — a line
  6. clip — a video
  7. cap — a hat
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. clip — to cut
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. cap — a lid
  14. cap — of ice
  15. craft — a skill
  16. row — to paddle
  17. band — a music group
  18. craft — boats

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