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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — to cut
  6. firm — steady
  7. firm — a company
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. firm — decided
  10. bass — the fish
  11. band — a ring
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. chair — a leader
  16. fork — in a road
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. band — a music group
  19. clip — a video
  20. march — the month
  21. march — the month
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. bass — low music
  24. march — music

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