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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. band — a ring
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. club — for dancing
  6. clip — to cut
  7. roll — a cake
  8. bound — tied together
  9. clip — for paper
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. bound — certain
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. clip — a video
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bound — obliged
  16. band — a music group
  17. cap — a lid
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. cap — of ice
  20. club — for golf
  21. club — a group
  22. roll — a list
  23. spring — the season
  24. spring — of water

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