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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. object — an aim
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — for paper
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. band — a ring
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. object — to protest
  9. track — a song
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. clip — to cut
  13. fork — in a road
  14. object — a thing
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. track — a path
  18. deal — to handle
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. mine — for digging
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. track — to keep track
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. patient — a sick person

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