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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — to trim
  6. band — a music group
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. clip — to cut
  9. clip — a video
  10. saw — the tool
  11. deal — to handle
  12. band — a ring
  13. game — a match
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. roll — a cake
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. chair — a leader
  18. saw — the tool
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. game — wild animals
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. roll — a list
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. prune — the fruit

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