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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 124 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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. clip — for paper
  3. can — to be able to
  4. hand — in cards
  5. press — to push
  6. date — the fruit
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. band — a ring
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. game — wild animals
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. hand — help
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. band — a music group
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. can — a tin
  19. clip — to cut
  20. press — a publisher
  21. game — a match
  22. press — newspapers
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. clip — a video

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