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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 rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. clip — to cut
  3. scale — in music
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. swing — in golf
  6. bear — the animal
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. band — a ring
  12. scale — size or range
  13. file — a document
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. band — a music group
  17. clip — a video
  18. file — a line of people
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. swing — music
  22. clip — for paper
  23. swing — to play on
  24. bear — the animal

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