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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. wax — to grow
  4. fine — all right
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. fine — high quality
  10. clip — for paper
  11. band — a ring
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — to cut
  14. wound — an injury
  15. band — a music group
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. rest — what's left
  21. rest — a break
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. rest — what's left
  24. kick — in football

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