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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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. band — a music group
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. firm — steady
  5. bear — the animal
  6. clip — a video
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. charge — electricity
  9. clip — to cut
  10. band — a ring
  11. bear — the animal
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. file — a document
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. charge — a price
  16. firm — decided
  17. clip — for paper
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. file — a line of people
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. season — of the year
  22. season — in sport
  23. charge — in control
  24. file — a tool

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