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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. band — a music group
  3. game — a match
  4. ground — the earth
  5. staff — employees
  6. net — after costs
  7. band — a ring
  8. ground — a position
  9. clip — for paper
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. clip — a video
  12. staff — employees
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. ground — crushed
  15. clip — to cut
  16. net — for catching
  17. net — in sport
  18. staff — a stick
  19. capital — a city
  20. game — wild animals
  21. prune — to trim
  22. prune — to trim
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. capital — money

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