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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 120 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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. clip — to cut
  3. staff — employees
  4. drill — army training
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. perch — the fish
  7. band — a music group
  8. clip — for paper
  9. drill — a practice
  10. rash — a series
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. clip — a video
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. shower — rain
  17. staff — employees
  18. club — for golf
  19. shower — to wash
  20. drill — the tool
  21. rash — hasty
  22. staff — a stick
  23. club — for dancing
  24. club — a group

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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