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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. clip — a video
  5. bound — obliged
  6. band — a ring
  7. clip — for paper
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. clip — to cut
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. bound — tied together
  14. pit — in a race
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. band — a music group
  18. bulb — for light
  19. capital — money
  20. bound — certain
  21. capital — a city
  22. fine — all right
  23. pit — a hole
  24. bulb — for light

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