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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. rest — what's left
  3. fall — to drop
  4. fall — to drop
  5. court — of law
  6. court — for sport
  7. clip — for paper
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. rest — what's left
  10. land — a country
  11. charge — a price
  12. bulb — for light
  13. charge — electricity
  14. band — a music group
  15. rest — a break
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. bulb — for light
  18. fall — the season
  19. clip — to cut
  20. land — to come down
  21. clip — a video
  22. court — of a king
  23. land — ground
  24. charge — in control

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