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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. wax — to grow
  3. craft — a skill
  4. clip — for paper
  5. spring — a coil
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. spring — of water
  10. band — a ring
  11. band — a music group
  12. perch — the fish
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. craft — boats
  15. clip — a video
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. pound — a weight
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. spring — the season
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. clip — to cut

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