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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 116 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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. mate — to breed
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — to rip
  6. deal — to handle
  7. tear — from crying
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. clip — to cut
  10. band — a music group
  11. squash — to crush
  12. pop — soda
  13. pop — music
  14. mate — a partner
  15. season — of the year
  16. pop — to visit
  17. clip — for paper
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. season — in sport
  20. squash — the sport
  21. clip — a video
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. mate — a friend

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