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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. track — a song
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. band — a ring
  5. clip — for paper
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. track — a path
  12. fork — in a road
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. degree — from a university
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. clip — a video
  17. degree — an amount
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. track — to keep track
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. degree — temperature
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. clip — to cut

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