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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. band — a ring
  3. bound — certain
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. ground — the earth
  6. craft — boats
  7. craft — a skill
  8. band — a music group
  9. clip — for paper
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. ground — crushed
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. rush — hurry
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. ground — a position
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. clip — a video
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. bound — tied together
  20. clip — to cut
  21. wind — moving air
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. bound — obliged

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