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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. current — electric
  3. band — a ring
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. current — happening now
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. clip — for paper
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. clip — a video
  13. land — ground
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. land — to come down
  16. date — the fruit
  17. content — happy
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. clip — to cut
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. land — a country
  23. current — of water
  24. content — the amount

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