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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 124 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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. clip — to cut
  3. wind — moving air
  4. can — a tin
  5. stand — to bear
  6. band — a music group
  7. suit — clothes
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. can — to be able to
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. clip — for paper
  12. suit — to fit
  13. row — a line
  14. band — a ring
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. suit — in cards
  18. wind — moving air
  19. can — a tin
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — of your body
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. row — to paddle
  24. clip — a video

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