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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. rest — what's left
  4. clip — to cut
  5. rule — government
  6. bulb — for light
  7. rest — a break
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. chest — a box
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. tube — the underground
  13. band — a ring
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. chest — of your body
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. date — the fruit
  18. bulb — for light
  19. tube — a container
  20. rest — what's left
  21. chest — of your body
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — for paper
  24. rule — a law

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