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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. band — a music group
  3. bound — tied together
  4. bound — obliged
  5. hand — in cards
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. last — finally
  8. band — a ring
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. clip — a video
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cap — of ice
  13. cell — a phone
  14. bound — certain
  15. clip — for paper
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. present — there
  18. cap — a hat
  19. last — final
  20. clip — to cut
  21. present — a gift
  22. last — to go on
  23. present — the time now
  24. cap — a lid

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