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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 120 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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. cell — a phone
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — for paper
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. clip — to cut
  11. chip — for betting
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. capital — money
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. band — a music group
  16. fork — in a road
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. capital — a city
  19. cell — in biology
  20. band — a ring
  21. chip — to eat
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. fork — to eat with

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