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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  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. band — a ring
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. bass — low music
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. clip — for paper
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. clip — to cut
  9. rush — hurry
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. band — a music group
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. mark — a grade
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. bass — the fish
  19. mark — a trace
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — to wash
  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