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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. clip — to cut
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. clip — for paper
  5. game — a match
  6. row — to paddle
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. clip — a video
  11. rush — hurry
  12. staff — employees
  13. cap — a hat
  14. game — wild animals
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. cap — of ice
  18. staff — a stick
  19. cap — a lid
  20. row — a line
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. staff — employees
  23. mine — for digging
  24. rock — a stone

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