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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. clip — to cut
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. rest — a break
  6. bass — the fish
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. bass — low music
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. clip — for paper
  12. rest — what's left
  13. vault — a safe
  14. shower — to wash
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. shower — rain
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. clip — a video
  19. band — a music group
  20. rest — what's left
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. patient — a sick person

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