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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. stand — to bear
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. object — an aim
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. chest — of your body
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. rock — music
  12. chest — a box
  13. rock — a stone
  14. clip — for paper
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. chest — of your body
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. shower — rain
  19. band — a ring
  20. clip — a video
  21. object — a thing
  22. clip — to cut
  23. shower — to wash
  24. band — a music group

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