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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. net — for catching
  4. march — the month
  5. charge — in control
  6. mine — for digging
  7. stock — shares
  8. charge — electricity
  9. net — in sport
  10. clip — for paper
  11. stock — goods
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. clip — to cut
  15. march — music
  16. net — after costs
  17. charge — a price
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. march — the month
  22. clip — a video
  23. band — a music group
  24. band — a ring

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