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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. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — a stone
  2. spring — the season
  3. chip — for betting
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — moving air
  8. bulb — for light
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. chip — to eat
  11. clip — to cut
  12. rock — music
  13. band — a ring
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — of water
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. band — a music group
  21. bulb — for light
  22. clip — a video
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. wind — to turn a key

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