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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. content — happy
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. present — there
  6. band — a ring
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — a video
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. present — a gift
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. present — the time now
  15. court — for sport
  16. board — a committee
  17. court — of a king
  18. band — a music group
  19. board — to get on
  20. plane — a tool
  21. clip — to cut
  22. rock — a stone
  23. content — the amount
  24. court — of law

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