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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 not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. ground — crushed
  3. band — a ring
  4. ground — a position
  5. season — in sport
  6. wound — an injury
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. band — a music group
  9. clip — for paper
  10. ground — the earth
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. bound — obliged
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. clip — to cut
  17. season — of the year
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. clip — a video
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. bound — certain
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. bound — tied together
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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