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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. band — a ring
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. clip — to cut
  5. perch — the fish
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. race — a contest
  9. clip — for paper
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. race — humankind
  13. band — a music group
  14. hand — help
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. prune — to trim
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. race — the arms race
  22. clip — a video
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. prune — to trim

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