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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. band — a music group
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. clip — to cut
  5. band — a ring
  6. can — to be able to
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. saw — the tool
  9. land — ground
  10. clip — for paper
  11. pitch — completely
  12. wound — an injury
  13. can — a tin
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. date — the fruit
  17. land — to come down
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. land — a country
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. can — a tin
  22. clip — a video
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. wound — an injury

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