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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 120 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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  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 ring
  2. track — to keep track
  3. mug — a cup
  4. saw — the tool
  5. saw — the tool
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. track — a song
  11. track — a path
  12. band — a music group
  13. row — to paddle
  14. rash — hasty
  15. clip — for paper
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. row — a line
  18. rash — a series
  19. mug — a face
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. clip — a video
  23. mug — to rob
  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