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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. clip — to cut
  3. rash — hasty
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. club — for golf
  7. fork — in a road
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. clip — a video
  10. band — a ring
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. club — for dancing
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. scale — size or range
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. clip — for paper
  18. band — a music group
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. club — a group
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. rash — a series
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. bark — to shout

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