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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 120 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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. clip — for paper
  3. cap — a hat
  4. content — the amount
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. cap — a lid
  8. band — a ring
  9. content — happy
  10. cap — of ice
  11. clip — a video
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. spring — of water
  15. band — a music group
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. pit — in a race
  19. pit — a hole
  20. clip — to cut
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. spring — the season
  24. pound — a weight

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