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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. clip — for paper
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. clip — to cut
  7. game — wild animals
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kid — child
  11. band — a ring
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. present — there
  14. roll — a list
  15. clip — a video
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. present — the time now
  19. game — a match
  20. present — a gift
  21. kid — to tease
  22. band — a music group
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. roll — a cake

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