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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. spell — magic
  4. spell — a short time
  5. clip — to cut
  6. content — happy
  7. spell — letters
  8. fork — in a road
  9. content — the amount
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — for paper
  14. craft — a skill
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. band — a music group
  17. band — a ring
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. craft — boats
  20. cap — a hat
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. cap — a lid

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