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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 120 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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. squash — the sport
  3. mug — a cup
  4. clip — to cut
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. field — farmland
  7. clip — for paper
  8. field — for sport
  9. band — a ring
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. mug — to rob
  12. spring — a coil
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. clip — a video
  16. spring — of water
  17. snap — to click
  18. band — a music group
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. spring — the season
  21. field — a subject
  22. mug — a face
  23. squash — to crush
  24. squash — the vegetable

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