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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 rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. club — for dancing
  3. swing — to play on
  4. club — for golf
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. march — the month
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. band — a ring
  9. clip — for paper
  10. swing — in golf
  11. march — music
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. band — a music group
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. file — a line of people
  17. march — the month
  18. file — a document
  19. swing — music
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. clip — to cut
  22. club — a group
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. clip — a video

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