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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. suit — clothes
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. clip — to cut
  8. suit — in cards
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. clip — a video
  12. cold — an illness
  13. band — a music group
  14. bark — to shout
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. suit — to fit
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. capital — a city
  19. band — a ring
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. clip — for paper
  24. capital — money

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