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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. clip — a video
  3. bound — certain
  4. scale — in music
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. clip — to cut
  7. face — to confront
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. row — to paddle
  10. clip — for paper
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. scale — size or range
  14. band — a music group
  15. row — a line
  16. bound — obliged
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. press — a publisher
  20. face — to point toward
  21. press — to push
  22. face — part of the head
  23. press — newspapers
  24. bound — tied together

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