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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. prune — to trim
  4. band — a music group
  5. band — a ring
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. cap — of ice
  8. mark — a grade
  9. prune — to trim
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. clip — for paper
  12. bass — the fish
  13. cap — a lid
  14. clip — to cut
  15. bear — the animal
  16. face — to point toward
  17. face — part of the head
  18. face — to confront
  19. mark — a trace
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. bass — low music
  22. bear — the animal
  23. clip — a video
  24. bear — to put up with

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