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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. spring — a coil
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. spring — of water
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. rash — a series
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. snap — to click
  11. pound — a weight
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. clip — for paper
  14. band — a ring
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. spring — the season
  19. clip — to cut
  20. rash — hasty
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. clip — a video
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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