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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bore — to tire
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. mate — to breed
  7. swing — to play on
  8. mate — a friend
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. clip — a video
  11. band — a ring
  12. swing — music
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. mate — a partner
  15. spring — a coil
  16. swing — in golf
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. spring — the season
  20. spring — of water
  21. clip — for paper
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. bore — to drill

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