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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 116 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 has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  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. safe — a strongbox
  2. wound — an injury
  3. band — a ring
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. pit — a hole
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. stem — to come from
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — for paper
  15. pit — in a race
  16. rash — a series
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. band — a music group
  19. wound — an injury
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. game — wild animals
  22. rash — hasty
  23. game — a match
  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