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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. band — a music group
  5. clip — to cut
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. wound — an injury
  11. can — a tin
  12. band — a ring
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. clip — a video
  15. wound — an injury
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. can — a tin
  18. toast — bread
  19. clip — for paper
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. bark — to shout
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. wind — moving air

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