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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. tube — the underground
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. band — a music group
  5. clip — to cut
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. march — the month
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. band — a ring
  10. kick — in football
  11. perch — the fish
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. tube — a container
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. board — to get on
  16. board — a committee
  17. march — the month
  18. clip — a video
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. clip — for paper
  23. wake — a trail
  24. march — 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