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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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. clip — for paper
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. band — a music group
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. band — a ring
  9. clip — to cut
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. suit — clothes
  12. cap — of ice
  13. suit — in cards
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. cap — a hat
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. cap — a lid
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bat — the animal
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. clip — a video

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