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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. clip — to cut
  3. clip — for paper
  4. degree — temperature
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. rule — government
  8. clip — a video
  9. current — happening now
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. spring — of water
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. rule — a law
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. band — a ring
  16. current — of water
  17. degree — from a university
  18. degree — an amount
  19. bark — to shout
  20. spring — a coil
  21. current — electric
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. spring — the season
  24. bark — of a tree

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