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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 120 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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. craft — a skill
  3. cue — for pool
  4. bore — to tire
  5. land — a country
  6. land — to come down
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bore — to drill
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. band — a music group
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. clip — to cut
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. clip — a video
  16. cue — a hint
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. land — ground
  20. craft — boats
  21. clip — for paper
  22. cue — a signal
  23. sharp — clever
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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