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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. last — final
  3. band — a ring
  4. ball — a great time
  5. present — the time now
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. clip — for paper
  9. hand — in cards
  10. clip — to cut
  11. band — a music group
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. last — finally
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. clip — a video
  18. hand — help
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. ball — a dance
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. last — to go on
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. present — a gift

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