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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a music group
  3. rule — government
  4. chest — a box
  5. clip — to cut
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. chest — of your body
  8. season — of the year
  9. season — in sport
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. net — in sport
  12. net — after costs
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. clip — for paper
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. chest — of your body
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. clip — a video
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. rule — a law
  21. net — for catching
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. pound — a weight
  24. season — to add flavour

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