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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. land — ground
  3. clip — a video
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. band — a music group
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. wax — to grow
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. clip — for paper
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. swing — music
  16. clip — to cut
  17. land — to come down
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. land — a country
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. band — a ring
  22. rush — hurry
  23. swing — to play on
  24. swing — in golf

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