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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. clip — a video
  3. roll — a list
  4. present — a gift
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. drill — a practice
  8. band — a ring
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. clip — for paper
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. roll — a cake
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. kick — in football
  16. drill — army training
  17. clip — to cut
  18. fork — in a road
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. band — a music group
  21. present — there
  22. drill — the tool
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. kick — with a leg

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