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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. hand — help
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. lean — to bend
  8. band — a ring
  9. clip — for paper
  10. stock — shares
  11. cell — a phone
  12. clip — a video
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. lean — thin
  15. clip — to cut
  16. stock — goods
  17. cell — in biology
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. hand — in cards
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. pass — a permit

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