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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. clip — for paper
  5. spell — magic
  6. spell — letters
  7. spell — a short time
  8. clip — to cut
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. band — a music group
  12. object — a thing
  13. race — the arms race
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. race — a contest
  16. object — an aim
  17. chip — for betting
  18. wax — to grow
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. chip — to eat
  21. object — to protest
  22. race — humankind
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. clip — a video

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