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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 seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. file — a line of people
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. prune — to trim
  6. file — a tool
  7. file — a document
  8. bound — tied together
  9. pit — in a race
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. clip — a video
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. clip — for paper
  14. pit — a hole
  15. band — a ring
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. game — wild animals
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. game — a match
  20. bound — obliged
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. prune — to trim
  23. bound — certain
  24. band — a music group

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