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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 124 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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. band — a music group
  4. clip — to cut
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. clip — for paper
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. race — humankind
  9. field — farmland
  10. chest — of your body
  11. clip — a video
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. field — a subject
  14. chest — of your body
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. band — a ring
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. race — the arms race
  20. race — a contest
  21. pound — a weight
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. field — for sport
  24. chest — a box

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