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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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. band — a ring
  3. hand — in cards
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. clip — to cut
  6. degree — from a university
  7. suit — clothes
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. hand — help
  11. dip — to sink
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. row — to paddle
  14. clip — for paper
  15. clip — a video
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. band — a music group
  19. board — a committee
  20. board — to get on
  21. degree — an amount
  22. suit — in cards
  23. row — a line
  24. degree — temperature

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