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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. band — a ring
  4. band — a music group
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. staff — a stick
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. plane — a tool
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. staff — employees
  12. clip — for paper
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. squash — the sport
  15. clip — a video
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. date — the fruit
  19. clip — to cut
  20. staff — employees
  21. squash — to crush
  22. lean — to bend
  23. lean — thin
  24. lean — to rest against

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