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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. object — to protest
  4. current — electric
  5. current — happening now
  6. current — of water
  7. object — a thing
  8. clip — a video
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. band — a ring
  11. object — an aim
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. clip — to cut
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. march — the month
  17. row — a line
  18. cue — a hint
  19. march — the month
  20. cue — for pool
  21. cue — a signal
  22. row — to paddle
  23. march — music
  24. clip — for paper

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