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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. root — of a word
  3. last — finally
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. band — a music group
  7. cap — a hat
  8. clip — a video
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. bound — obliged
  12. root — the cause
  13. plane — a tool
  14. last — final
  15. clip — for paper
  16. last — to go on
  17. root — of a plant
  18. cap — a lid
  19. bat — the animal
  20. band — a ring
  21. bound — certain
  22. cap — of ice
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bound — tied together

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