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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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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. kid — to tease
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. roll — a list
  5. kid — child
  6. band — a ring
  7. stem — to come from
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — a video
  12. pit — a hole
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. clip — to cut
  17. roll — a cake
  18. mine — for digging
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. pit — in a race

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