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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. fine — high quality
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. saw — the tool
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. band — a music group
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. can — a tin
  10. band — a ring
  11. can — a tin
  12. hand — help
  13. clip — for paper
  14. hand — in cards
  15. mine — for digging
  16. can — to be able to
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. saw — the tool
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — a video
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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