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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. clip — a video
  4. chair — a leader
  5. bulb — for light
  6. toast — bread
  7. band — a music group
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. race — a contest
  10. band — a ring
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. clip — for paper
  13. race — humankind
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bulb — for light
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. race — the arms race
  20. spring — of water
  21. spring — the season
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. clip — to cut
  24. game — wild animals

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