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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. object — an aim
  4. band — a ring
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. object — a thing
  9. band — a music group
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — a video
  13. craft — boats
  14. bat — the animal
  15. last — final
  16. last — finally
  17. last — to go on
  18. chip — for betting
  19. chip — to eat
  20. clip — to cut
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. rock — music
  23. rock — a stone
  24. craft — a skill

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