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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. clip — a video
  3. row — a line
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. clip — for paper
  6. firm — a company
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. firm — steady
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. firm — decided
  11. wound — an injury
  12. band — a music group
  13. scale — in music
  14. scale — size or range
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. cold — an illness
  17. band — a ring
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. wound — an injury
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cold — not warm
  22. row — to paddle
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. mouse — for a computer

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