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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. tube — the underground
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. spring — the season
  6. band — a ring
  7. band — a music group
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. fork — in a road
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. fall — to drop
  14. row — to paddle
  15. tube — a container
  16. fall — the season
  17. row — a line
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — to cut
  20. spring — of water
  21. clip — for paper
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. fall — to drop
  24. ruler — for measuring

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