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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. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. bear — the animal
  5. bass — the fish
  6. march — the month
  7. band — a ring
  8. clip — a video
  9. charge — a price
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. band — a music group
  12. clip — to cut
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. march — music
  15. bear — the animal
  16. charge — in control
  17. bass — low music
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. chest — a box
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. chest — of your body
  23. clip — for paper
  24. march — the month

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