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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  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 music group
  2. clip — for paper
  3. can — a tin
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. plane — a tool
  6. can — a tin
  7. swing — in golf
  8. game — a match
  9. key — in music
  10. key — for a lock
  11. swing — music
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. game — wild animals
  14. capital — a city
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. key — the most important part
  17. clip — to cut
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. band — a ring
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. swing — to play on
  22. capital — money
  23. can — to be able to
  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