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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. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. band — a music group
  6. capital — a city
  7. snap — to click
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. band — a ring
  12. capital — money
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. bass — the fish
  16. clip — to cut
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. mine — for digging
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bass — low music

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