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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. saw — the tool
  4. clip — to cut
  5. fine — high quality
  6. fine — all right
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. key — in music
  10. bat — the animal
  11. clip — a video
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. saw — the tool
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. rule — a law
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. clip — for paper
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. key — for a lock
  21. key — the most important part
  22. band — a music group
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. rule — government

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