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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. charge — in control
  3. band — a music group
  4. band — a ring
  5. roll — a cake
  6. ground — crushed
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. mine — for digging
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. clip — for paper
  13. ground — the earth
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. charge — a price
  16. ground — a position
  17. clip — a video
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. wax — to grow
  20. clip — to cut
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. charge — electricity
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. roll — a list

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