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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a ring
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. tear — from crying
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. court — for sport
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. club — a group
  10. spring — a coil
  11. spring — of water
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. spring — the season
  15. court — of a king
  16. court — of law
  17. clip — to cut
  18. chair — a leader
  19. tear — from crying
  20. clip — a video
  21. club — for golf
  22. tear — to rip
  23. club — for dancing
  24. chair — to sit on

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