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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 116 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'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. clip — to cut
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bound — tied together
  7. game — wild animals
  8. cue — a signal
  9. capital — money
  10. band — a music group
  11. band — a ring
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. stand — to bear
  14. capital — a city
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. cue — for pool
  17. game — a match
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. bound — obliged
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. clip — a video
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. bound — certain
  24. stand — on your feet

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