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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. clip — a video
  3. degree — from a university
  4. band — a ring
  5. game — wild animals
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. band — a music group
  9. snap — to click
  10. clip — for paper
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. lie — to recline
  13. lean — thin
  14. lean — to bend
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. degree — temperature
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. degree — an amount
  23. game — a match
  24. clip — to cut

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