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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. clip — a video
  3. band — a music group
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. clip — to cut
  6. chair — a leader
  7. drill — a practice
  8. chip — to eat
  9. wake — a trail
  10. date — the fruit
  11. chip — for betting
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. clip — for paper
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — to trim
  19. drill — army training
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. drill — the tool

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