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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 116 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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — to cut
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. clip — for paper
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. court — for sport
  8. can — a tin
  9. court — of a king
  10. last — finally
  11. land — a country
  12. club — for dancing
  13. band — a music group
  14. mark — a trace
  15. court — of law
  16. land — to come down
  17. mark — a grade
  18. band — a ring
  19. club — for golf
  20. club — a group
  21. last — to go on
  22. last — final
  23. can — a tin
  24. can — to be able to

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