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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. cell — a phone
  5. band — a music group
  6. bear — the animal
  7. clip — a video
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. charge — a price
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. charge — electricity
  13. cell — in biology
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. bear — the animal
  19. clip — for paper
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. charge — in control
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. clip — to cut

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