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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. band — a music group
  3. date — the fruit
  4. rash — a series
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. rash — hasty
  9. cell — in biology
  10. clip — a video
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. cell — a phone
  15. band — a ring
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. clip — for paper
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. spring — the season
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. clip — to cut
  23. spring — of water
  24. spring — a coil

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