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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 116 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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. row — a line
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. spring — the season
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. spring — a coil
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. vault — a safe
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. band — a ring
  13. pit — a hole
  14. tube — the underground
  15. spring — of water
  16. key — in music
  17. pit — in a race
  18. tube — a container
  19. clip — for paper
  20. key — the most important part
  21. key — for a lock
  22. band — a music group
  23. row — to paddle
  24. clip — a video

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