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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 116 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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. spring — a coil
  3. band — a music group
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. clip — to cut
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. clip — for paper
  11. spring — of water
  12. can — a tin
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — an injury
  15. can — a tin
  16. band — a ring
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. can — to be able to
  19. clip — a video
  20. perch — the fish
  21. pound — a weight
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. pound — for dogs

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