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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. clip — to cut
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. bank — of a river
  5. squash — the sport
  6. face — to point toward
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. band — a ring
  9. band — a music group
  10. clip — a video
  11. bank — for money
  12. face — to confront
  13. bank — for money
  14. kid — to tease
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. squash — to crush
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. rash — hasty
  19. face — part of the head
  20. kid — child
  21. clip — for paper
  22. rash — a series
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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