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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. pop — music
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. pop — soda
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. field — for sport
  8. key — for a lock
  9. key — in music
  10. plane — a tool
  11. pop — to visit
  12. band — a music group
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. clip — a video
  15. band — a ring
  16. bat — the animal
  17. field — a subject
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. key — the most important part
  21. clip — to cut
  22. field — farmland
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. plane — in geometry

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